Melted Ice
by DoubleMMia
Summary: Alternative Universe; Can fire drown in ice? Can ice drown in fire? Of course, Rikku's just finding it hard to get to her new Summoner without acting like a fool. Parallel worlds don't half suck. Lulu/Rikku Tidus/Yuna. Be warned. Femmeslash.
1. Prologue

**Prologue;**

Now that I was standing here, watching them all look at me with dull eyes that held so much pain…I felt like I didn't deserve them. That I deserved not to belong. Not to belong anywhere.

They didn't know because I didn't tell. Only she knew and all that time, she kept it a secret from the others because she knew if she said something then…

It didn't matter anyway, I was the glue that kept them together through the journey, through the pain and the anguish, through the good times and the bad and here I was…Keeping them together…But maybe also tearing them apart as well.

Her eyes hurt me the most. Because knowing her so well, I could creep past the barriers her eyes told me and see that inside she was in pain as well…So much pain, the pain that I was putting her through.

I was leaving her - without meaning to of course - and it hurt because so many people she had lost because of them leaving and getting killed.

I guess it hurt more because she knew that I wasn't going to die if I left, she knew I was going to live and be with my old (forgotten) friends and she knew that she would grow old and withered without me by her side.

And I knew at that moment, even if she was never going to say it or if she did, I knew already.

I knew that she loved me as much as I loved her. Maybe more.

A grin appeared on my face at the thought and a thought occurred to me.

"It's not goodbye y'know?!"

_FFX;_


	2. Chapter 1

_A/N: Okay, first Final Fantasy X fiction ever. So be gentle. Not a very original storyline, basically I've swapped some characters around, gave them different personality traits (some) and basically have created more (or less) angst to the Final Fantasy X story. This is an AU of the story, where Rikku is the one that was in Dream Zanarkand and Lulu was the Summoner and not Yuna. Meaning that it is very much two girls going over the 'love' line. If you can't stand that, then I suggest you be a sensible person and go away. I'll respect you more._

_As I said, gentle. _

CHAPTER 1

Rikku glanced at the gigantic alarm clock that was ticking quietly in the background of the music that was being blared so loud that even Rikku herself had no idea what she was thinking.

Apart from that it was exactly thirty-minutes until the blitz ball game started and some of the fans were going to be pissed if she weren't there to sign any of their blitz balls, which now that she thought about it was a very tempting thought of not going.

It wasn't that she didn't like her fans, it was just that she had a killer headache thanks to her last supply of drinks that fans had bought her and she would have had more of a headache anyway if she had accepted ALL of them.

With that thought on her mind, Rikku clamped both hands over her eyes and made a sound of disgust which came out as a long, guttural groan.

"Ohhh! Why! Why does this league have to be so terrible that I have to go Blitz Balling every single night?" With another exaggerated groan, Rikku turned on her side to cuddle up with her fluffy toys that had apparently been given to her when she was very young by her father. "I could be doing anything but play Blitz Ball, but no…Someone has it out for me…"

When a loud ding broke her train of thought again, Rikku growled in annoyance and turned to pout at the clock that was basically doing her head in.

It was annoying her how her clock seemed to be taunting her, like it was laughing at her, telling her how weak she was for staying cooped up in her bed, saying this wasn't her…Not Cid's kid.

'_Cid's kid? Huh. No wonder Cid abandoned her. She's a coward and can't do anything without groaning. Coward. Useless.'_

"ALRIGHT!" With a huff, Rikku pushed herself out of her bed, a pout gracing her lips and turning her normally cheerful features bad-tempered.

"I'm going. I'm going." Rikku repeated to herself as she placed her Zanarkand Abes armguard on her left arm. It had been like this for a while.

Whispers surrounding her like a dark cloak, they followed her wherever she went and to be honest Rikku hated it only because most of it was true.

'_Cid just left one day, nobody knew where he went. He was here for a week, then he vanished. Then this kid turned up with Cid's initials on the crib that she was laid in, poor kid.'_

Some, like this one, were sort of kind towards her thanks to her father's absence, yet even if Rikku was supposed to feel some comfort thanks to these people's words…She felt none, she hated feeling pitied and that was what these sort of people were doing…Pitying her.

It was better than what the others gave her though. Some glared at her with venomous eyes, ones that pierced her heart in the most unexpected way. It hurt. The whispers acted as if they didn't care what they made her feel, which was true of course. They didn't understand probably anyway, they couldn't even if they tried really.

How would they know how it felt to not grow up without any parents? They couldn't know, because they had no reason to.

The only person she was supposed to rely on, the only one that could teach her anything that meant something…It had all been replaced by her Mentor. Not her father, not her dad…Just her Mentor.

Auron.

She wondered where he was right now, the last time she had seen her parent-like-sentinel he had been walking up the street towards the local tavern with his katana still hanging loosely from his crimson robes.

Whatever, he didn't normally watch her games - though had almost given up a vigorous amount of times thanks to her whining - so she doubted that he'd be there to watch her tonight.

With a low sigh, Rikku switched off all the lights of her home with a quick flick of her wrist before bouncing out of her door with her prized blitz ball in her right hand and a cheerful grin on her face.

The positive grin changed into one that resembled a rather smug smirk at the cheering that came from the people around her pad at her arrival, and it was fair to say that they weren't all here for sight-seeing.

She'd have loads of blitz balls to sign tonight.

* * *

"Lu?"

The deep and laid-back voice called out to her, tearing her gaze away from the Kotetsu that she was holding tightly in her clothed arms and onto the two people that was staring at her worriedly at the front of her door.

"Lu, you've been holding that for a while." Another voice spoke to her, this time having the voice of someone quite young and buoyant about everything in life. "Why don't you come and eat dinner with the rest of us? We've still got two days until we go to Besaid Temple."

Deep within her mind, Lulu questioned her own motives. What should she do? However, now that she thought about it…

It wasn't about her anymore, it didn't matter what she wanted or what she should do and how she should do it.

What would a Summoner do? How would they react to an invitation they didn't really want to accept?

"I'll be with you in a moment." With a feeble smile, Lulu let her stare wander from the men at her door to the katana lying in her arms. "I've still got to clean this and place it back in its sheath."

With a gesture of her hand - one of dismissal - Lulu tensed her muscles before letting a Blizzard spell land directly on the blade of her Kotetsu, her smile widening proudly at the glistening that was her Kotetsu melting on its sheath.

Footsteps seemed to be fading away from the door yet before Lulu could revel in the fact that she was finally alone, heavier footsteps started to sound at the entrance to her hut.

Why couldn't she do anything she wanted on her own for once? Surely all of her Guardians knew that what she was doing right now was simply the most important thing ever to her right now, beating the fact that she had to turn down a marriage proposal because of what she was doing.

Not that marriage interested her in the slightest. Heh, it was simply disgusting how even if she wasn't a Warrior Monk she was still expected to marry someone - someone who she had no idea who they were.

Her thoughts were cut off by a low, docile growl that seemed to reverberate off the walls of her hut.

"Lulu. No need. Kimahri do Kotetsu. Eat." The growl stole the soon-to-be-Summoner's breath away immediately.

So, the two boys had finally resulted to their last option to get her to eat sooner than she'd liked. She had to admit, the boys were admirable at what they did…And they were also very brave as they would both be receiving a quick Thunder spell from her when they were going to bed.

With a tired sigh, Lulu delicately picked her Kotetsu up from out of her lap and placed it on the stand which a wooden statue of High Summoner Braska lay with its hands stretched out before heaving herself up so that she was now standing to her full height.

"Thank you Kimahri, please make sure that Kotetsu is back in its sheath." Gracing the Ronso with a weary smile, Lulu stepped aside to let the blue-haired feline in with delicate grace that she never knew she had -almost having a heart-attack when Kimahri sat down swiftly where the statue of the High Summoner was and making the katana fly like a shot into the air which in what seemed to be a moment was caught by the Ronso. "And _please_ be careful with it." She added, emphasising directly on the please.

An embarrassed murmur answered her and with a grim smirk, Lulu placed a hand on the feline's shoulder before walking out of her hut to greet the others for their evening meal.

* * *

"So, what's your name kid?" Rikku asked one of her many fans - who by the looks of it weren't getting tired of questioning her and asking her for her autograph anytime soon - with a joyful grin.

"Lucifer! But could you put Luc instead!" Her raven-haired fan cried, tears of joy practically sprouting from his eyes at the thought of her, Rikku, actually signing his blitz ball for him. It was just too much.

"Okay, okay. Cool name by the way." She nudged the boy gently, giving him a coy little wink as she did so. "Luc."

Luc in reply just winked himself, blushing a little at the compliment.

Rikku signed his blitz ball with a wry grin, plastering her lips against the rubber in an unmistakable kiss before passing the ball back to Luc with an even wider smirk.

"There ya go Luc." Ruffling the raven boy's hair, Rikku glanced over her shoulder to see that many of her fans were still waiting for her and the only real way out was to use the boy as a distraction.

With that thought, Rikku kneeled down so that her knees were barely just skimming the floorboards and whispered her plan into Luc's enthusiastic ears.

'_This is so going to work.'_ Rikku thought with a haughty smirk, her smugness almost pouring out of her ears. '_I've just got to make a run for it if anyone decides to follow me. I so don't want to get swamped again.'_

Pulling away, Rikku gave Luc a thumbs up sign. "You ready to go Luc? Y'know the plan?"

Without hesitation, Luc turned and raced into the crowed, lifting his blitz ball up in the air and yelled:

"Free kisses at the Thief's bar tonight! Right now! Free kisses from Rikku! Follow me! I've even got proof! Look at my blitz ball!"

And if miracles could happen. One certainly did at this moment.

With a loud cheer and applause, most of the crowd followed the young boy and with a little punch of the air Rikku bounded her way back around her pad and climbed down the ladder that would lead back to the streets where she could easily run to the stadium in a matter of minutes instead of hours.

"Well, that was easy enough." Rikku said to herself with a shrug, stepping down from the ladder into the busy streets of Zanarkand. "Maybe I can actually get to the stadium without being stopped again by fans."

Glancing around her shoulders once more to check if anyone was coming to jump at her - or on her - Rikku raced off down the streets with the weight of a feather, her body suddenly feeling like it was on overdrive at the euphoria that was pumping through her body.

Once the blitz ball game was over, that meant one thing. Bed. Comfy, irresistible bed that didn't complain if you slept in it too long. Rikku almost drooled at the thought of it.

"Yo! Rikku!"

Rikku wanted to cry at that voice. Why? Why? Of all people, why did Lance have to stop her just as she was about to go to her Blitz Ball game? Hadn't she made it quite clear on their last date that she wasn't interested in him?

Turning around, Rikku was astonished to see that Lance was being accompanied by none other than her mentor and sentinel, Auron.

"W-what's going on here?" Without meaning to, Rikku pointed her index finger at her mentor. "What are you doing here? Don't you have to go do some brooding somewhere?"

Auron didn't say anything in reply at that moment in time, instead he just dropped the whining Lance back onto his feet with a grunt before turning back to the young girl with a unexpected chuckle sounding in his throat.

"This was following you." Auron's chuckle was deep and throaty, which made Rikku wonder if his doctor ever asked him to have some cough medicine to clear it up…Obviously not seeming as that what his laughter always sounded like. "I just thought you might like it if I brought you a present before your next Blitz game."

In response, Rikku crossed her arms and pouted out her lower lip sulkily. "Not funny! You never come to my Blitz Ball games. What's the catch here?"

Lance rubbed the back of his head, glaring up at the older figure that had been holding him by his neck with a scowl of aggravation. Of course there was a catch, and he was bloody part of it!

"I'm not coming to this one. This." He pointed at Lance once more who in reply just glowered at the warrior monk. "Is going to be escorting you to the game and is also going to be the one who is going to bat off anyone who gets too close."

Rikku had no idea what to say to that. Should she run before either of them could catch up with her? Probably not seeming as Lance was very fast and Auron, well…He could probably jump faster than she could run and that was saying a lot of her chance of escaping.

"But why Lance?" Finally she had found her voice - and head - no way could Lance and her walk to the Zanarkand Stadium without arguing or having a proper conversation that wouldn't end up with her bashing him repeatedly on the head for saying something stupid or disgusting.

"He's the only one I could trust with this job. That is why." Auron explained in his usual monotone, pushing the protesting Lance forward into Rikku's arms. "He may not be the best company, but he's the one who can keep you safe."

Turning his back on the blondes, Auron was glad that he was facing the other way from his student, she'd of saw his arrogant smirk otherwise.

"Now get going, you're going to be late if you keep this up. I'll see you back at your apartment later." With that, Auron walked slowly back to where Rikku's apartment lay, his features tightening slightly at the slight tremor that seemed to be coming from underneath his feet…

He didn't like it, but he couldn't do anything about it.

Besides, it was time to go back to Rikku's apartment to grab most of his student's gear if the worse was to happen and by the tremors and sounds that was starting to resound off all the walls near him, the worse was about to happen.

Maybe he should run? Hmph. No, he would take his time. He had loads of time left if he thought about it, he just had to use this time correctly.

Getting to Rikku's apartment was basically just a five-minute walk however getting to the Zanarkand Blitz stadium was a different story entirely, the question was pretty simple.

Would he make it in time?

It didn't exactly matter at the moment, he was more worried about Rikku and Lance at that exact moment in time.

Lance would take care of Rikku, that was for certain. Even if he didn't like the blonde as much as he put on, he would at least look after the Zanarkand blitz star just in time for Auron himself to collect the blonde.

He just couldn't say the same about Rikku taking care of Lance.

* * *

"Soo…How are you?" Lance desperately tried to start a conversation, honestly it was killing him. This tension between them, it wasn't as if they practically hated each other because they didn't.

It was just hard sometimes, Rikku had pretty much told him that she wasn't interested in him and since then it had become harder to be civil towards her.

"Craptastic thanks." Rikku pouted her lower lip out in abhorrence, her eyes set to her two feet.

"Fucking hell Rik, what did I do wrong for you to be so…" Lance cut himself off, eyes wide and the glare that Rikku was now shooting at him. "…Never mind."

"Go on. Don't let me stop you from pointing out my mistakes." Rikku grumbled with a sour look on her face.

Lance almost had to bite on his tongue to stop himself from yelling at the young girl beside him. Mistakes! What mistakes? He couldn't see anything wrong about her apart from that she was just a teeny weeney bit too hyper and a little bit too angry when she was complaining.

"I'm not pointing out your mistakes Rik, I'm just bloody worried about you. Is all." Lance murmured under his breath, crossing his arms against his chest and gazing at the girl who he saw as a sister glance worriedly at her feet. "You're acting different than you was a few months ago. What's up eh?"

Rikku in response let out a breath she had no idea she'd been holding. What was wrong with her? Well, it was just her being selfish if she was telling the complete truth.

"Nothing's wrong. At all. It's just that…" Rikku shot a side-ways crooked smile at the now star-struck man beside her. "I'm kinda bored of this place…"

Lance scoffed, both of his hands tightening around the fabric of his black shirt as he tried his damn hardest to contain his laughter.

"Hey! Don't laugh Lance! Awww!" Rikku mock glared at her friend/enemy, her tongue slightly poking out of her parted lips. "It's not funny y'know!"

Lance stiffened at that, his walking changing into where he used shorter steps instead of using his long legs to his full extent.

"What isn't fun about Zanarkand? That's what I find funny. Heh-heh." Lance chuckled cheerfully, his features contorting into one of joyfulness.

Rikku smiled weakly in reply. Sure, Lance was kind of fun when he wanted to be but he was also so freaking gullible that Rikku found it hard not to tease him about it all the time.

"Zanarkand is just…Well…Old. Boring." Rikku attempted to try and make Lance understand what she was saying yet every time she did, Lance just got even more confused and found her situation so humorous that he probably wasn't even listening to her anyway.

"C'mon Rik, you can't be seriously telling me that you don't love all these flashy lights and the bright smiles of all your adorable little fans?" Lance nudged the girl in her ribs, grinning like a maniac.

"That's gay talk Lance." Rikku responded with a little giggle, retorting to Lance's punches with ones of her owns.

"Though…" Rikku placed two fingers on her chin and made a look that was used when one was in deep thought. "Some of them are pretty cute."

Lance's face instantaneously dropped at that speech. "What? You'd go out with some of them?"

Rikku almost broke down into a fierce set of giggles nevertheless caught herself before she made that mistake and instead tapped her chin thoughtfully with her index finger. "Maybe."

"Maybe? Rik! What did Auron tell you about mixing business with pleasure?" Lance scolded the blonde girl next to him playfully, a smile tugging at his parted lips. "Not good for your health."

"Maybe you're just jealous." Rikku suggested to the dark-skinned man boy next to her with a suggestive little wink. "Oooh! Lance is jealous! Lance is jealous!"

Lance snorted in response, making a grab for the blonde who danced out of his fingers by inches. "Not jealous y'know!"

"Sureeee Lance. Sureee." Rikku beamed, arching both her eyebrows in disbelief at his answer. "That's why you're going red, right?"

"EH? I'm not!" Lance protested, moving his face away from Rikku's gaze so that the young girl wouldn't tease him anymore about the developing blush that was forming on her face.

"Yeah, yeah!" Rikku stopped for a moment, letting Lance walk in front of her and before Lance could look over his shoulder to see where she was, the blonde jumped on his back and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

Lance in response stuck out his lower lip and made a grumbling sound underneath his breath.

"Giddy up horsey! I need to get to that damn stadium before they start without me!" Rikku pressed herself down hard onto Lance, urging the dark-skinned boy to go faster. "And my horsey needs to be faster than this! So come on Lance! Don't make me late!"

Lance rolled his eyes in slight annoyance at the blonde girl. "Alright, alright. Just don't keep jumping up and down on my back. I've gotta get back to my dad's house to fix something for his girl."

Rikku snorted at that. "Still a daddy's boy?"

Swaying her legs around the younger boy's shoulder, Rikku rested her chin on Lance's head with a sombre expression on her infuriated features.

She had been unfair on him, but Lance was the only person with her and Rikku had desperately needed someone to take her anger out on and unluckily for Lance, he had been the person.

Besides, she knew she was only saying most of this crap to Lance because she was down-right jealous of him. Even if he was a bit idiotic.

"Nah. Just wanna help him out y'know? He's getting old now. Don't want him to break his back or anything y'know?" Lance replied with forced cheer. He knew exactly what Rikku had meant when she had called him a daddy's boy and in that realization he had chosen to forgive her for what she had said.

After all, she had never known her father. And even if she had known her father…Lance doubted it would've been any different.

"Is that so? Heh-heh. That's nice of you Lance." Rikku rubbed her knuckles across Lance's scalp with a little giggle. "Tell your Dad I said hi by the way and that he should come and watch me play once in a while."

Lance laughed out loud at that. "He hates Blitz ball! Seriously! He calls it 'barbaric'! And stupid. And many other words that I can't really understand! He talks crap most of the time, but I love him anyway."

Rikku smiled at that. Well that was good, a boy admitting the love for his father. She'd never seen that before and she was glad that someone in the world loved their father and wasn't afraid to admit it, even if their father was totally embarrassing - who didn't like Blitz ball?

"Well, tell him to come anyway." Rikku said with a smile, sighing contently at the lights that were starting to soar across the sky in multiple colours. "I want someone else to talk to apart from my many fans."

"How vain."

"Sometimes you gotta be, y'know?"

They continued on their trot towards the Zanarkand stadium, Lance hissing at passers-by who were staring at them weirdly or looked like they were about to get closer than they both liked and Rikku just waving a little at the little children that seemed to be her fans as well as adults.

It carried on like this for a while, not one of them thinking of interrupting the peaceful silence that they had fallen into.

Rikku took this time to ponder on what had just been said. Cid. Father. Fans. Being vain.

Maybe she wouldn't have been so vain if she had someone to look after her like a father did, sure she had Auron but…

It just wasn't the same.

She missed her dad. She didn't even know him but that was no excuse not to miss the idiot that had helped create her and now that she was onto that subject in particular….

Who was her mother? Nobody mentioned her name whenever they spoke about Cid or her in the same sentence, hell nobody even mentioned that she had a god damn mother in the first place.

In these situations, Rikku would normally make a quick summary - more like an answer to help solve her problem - and at that moment, the summary was so quick and little Rikku found it hard to believe she hadn't summed the subject up before with this answer.

Life sucked.

There. That was her answer to it. She couldn't do anything about not knowing who Cid was, because nobody hardly knew Cid anyway…Not even Auron would tell her anything in addition to that it just made Rikku more curious about her dad.

Cid. What a name. She wondered where the hell Rikku had come from and what her mother had been called.

Rid? Snorting out loud at the name, Rikku clung to Lance tighter to stop herself from falling off.

"Yo! What's so funny?" Lance called up to her, grinning at the blonde as he tilted his head up to gaze at the sniggering blonde on his shoulders.

"Nothing about you! Just something that I thought was funny." Rikku chuckled, letting her tongue lick Lance's ear playfully. "Heh-heh!"

"Ugh! Rik that is gross!" Lance groaned, tightening his grip on Rikku's one leg and letting go of the other to wipe the saliva off his ear. "Not to mention unhygienic. Sheesh."

"Aww, c'mon Lance! Don't be such a sour puss!" Bopping the dark-skinned blonde on the head gently with her fist, Rikku continued to giggle at her own thoughts that were speeding around in her head. "You're going to be turning OCD if you keep being like this!"

"Better than living in my own-" Rikku bopped Lance on the head again before he could even think about finishing his sentence.

"Nuh uh! There's kids around here y'know?"

"So? They've probably heard it all before when they hear you yelling and arguing with Auron." Lance retorted, biting his lower lip nervously. Hopefully, he hadn't gone far enough that Rikku would beat him to an inch of his life.

"T-the hell? How do you know about me and Auron arguing all the time? You live the other end of Zanarkand!" Rikku snapped, a blush gracing her cheeks at her statement.

"Rikku, half of Zanarkand can hear you when you start a war with Auron." Lance explained matter-of-factly, shrugging his shoulders as he did so. "So really I almost know everything about you and Auron's affairs."

"Ew. I hope you aren't implying anything, blondie." Rikku scrunched her face up in disgust at the thoughts that was corrupting her head.

"No! That isn't what I meant!" Lance was about to go into undefined detail about what he meant, yet seeming as they were now turning the corner to where Zanarkand stadium lay, he decided that maybe he should just point it out to the girl on his shoulders before she started to lay into him for saying something totally revolting to her - even if he didn't mean anything by it. That's just how Rikku was.

"Look Rik! The stadium!" Pointing at the magnificent building that was starting to appear in their eyesight, Lance gazed up to see that Rikku was not on his shoulders anymore.

Looking in front of himself, Lance saw that the blonde was standing so still at the entrance that if Lance tried to push her over, he probably would have succeeded in doing so.

"Yo Rik, what's up?" Lance questioned the blonde in front of him gently, pushing her with his index and thumb to try and get a reaction out of the blitz ball player.

Instead, all he got was a terrified little scream that seemed to have erupted from Rikku's parted lips and a clammy hand placing itself in his own sweaty palm in one quick movement.

"W-what the hell is that?" Rikku exclaimed next to Lance, her eyes wide and her whole body was shivering with the unmistakable symptom called fear. "What the hell is that thing?"

Rikku had never seen such a creature in her whole eighteen years of breathing and living on Zanarkand.

Multiples of eyes - that was what they looked like to Rikku anyway - stared down at her with unambiguous hunger and loathing, blinking repeatedly as what looked like scales bristled with apparent fury.

Then before Rikku could do anything, a enormous white glow started to envelope the creature in its dangerous aura and Rikku could feel the undeniable power that was pulsing around everything around her because of the glow.

"Rikku!" Two voices were calling her name, yet when Rikku tried her hardest to actually listen to them it felt as if fog was clouding up her mind and making her feel more dizzy and light-headed than she was supposed to feel when seeing something that managed to fry your brain.

"Get out of the way!" Who did that voice belong to? What the hell was going on? Rikku glanced around, ignoring the screaming people that was forcing her even further back to where she had just come from with Lance. Why was everyone running?

"RIKKU!" This voice was different and if she wasn't mistaken then Rikku knew that panicky voice belonged to none other than Lance, her so-called guardian that was now nowhere in sight.

"Just run! And keep running!" There! That voice again! Deep and smooth like a baby's bottom…That was weird, why did everything have to be as smooth as a baby's bottom? A baby's bottom wasn't even smooth…It was bumpy. What? What was she even talking about?

Letting a hand caress her forehead, Rikku blinked hard to try and regain something that she could focus properly on. Geez, what the hell was wrong with her? She just couldn't think about anything without another thought terrorizing her mind and because of that she had no idea why everybody was running.

Suddenly, hands were wrapped roughly around her waist in addition to that happening, Rikku unexpectedly felt her lungs desperately fight for oxygen as she flew through the air, away from the Zanarkand stadium.

Rocks and metals crumbled and descended to the ground where the young blitz ball player had just been, causing anyone who had been unfortunately under it to be crushed to their deaths.

Surprisingly, Rikku had a soft landing where she fell, her cheek clinging desperately onto the red fabric that she was lying against so snugly in what people would call the position of vulnerability.

Whatever had happened, at least it had cleared her mind so that she could in any case, think properly and recollect herself of what had happened previously.

Pushing herself up, Rikku stared down at her saviour and immediately hugged her hero tightly whilst kicking her legs in cheerfulness.

"Auron! Oh I'm so glad to see you! Goshie, what was that - ahh! Auron!" Squeaking at how her guardian was now setting her back on her feat, Rikku clenched her eyes shut at the blinding light that was now covering her vision.

A hand tightly squeezed her shoulder, making Rikku jolt at the sudden amount of vision she had gained in that movement.

"Let's go." Without waiting for her, Auron turned and walked swiftly towards the place where he knew that _he_ would be waiting for them both.

"H-hey! Wait up!" Rikku called out, watching Auron's back disappear around a corner of one of the Zanarkand buildings.

'_Curse him! He always runs off like this! And he didn't even run!'_ Rikku thought with a snarl, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

Rikku looked behind her shoulder for a second, her eyes wide as she examined the still enraged rock-like creature that was starting to lean down towards her with livid coal eyes.

Rikku froze. She felt the blood drain away from her face and her whole body break down into shivers, the moist sweat starting to cover most of her body whilst her whole body seemed to be breaking down before she even knew it.

She had no idea what it was. But she knew that she had to get away quickly before this creature decided that he wanted her for breakfast and by the looks of how this creature was moving, he was making up his mind sooner than she liked.

"Eep!" With a soft, frightened little gasp, Rikku turned her back onto the creature and began to run as fast as her legs could carry her.

She needed to find Auron! Quickly! Wherever Auron was meant safety and by god Rikku knew she needed to live, she wanted to live, she had to! How else would she find out about her dad?

Pumping her legs faster with what felt like adrenaline, Rikku bit into her lower lip with determination seeing that now everyone that had been running in front of her was now flowing behind her like the gushing of the river, good. This was what she needed.

'_I'm going to make it! But…'_ Something seemed to dawn on Rikku at the thought that had swarmed in her mind. '_But where am I supposed to go?_

Rounding a corner, Rikku let her eyes follow the people that was following her lead of running for their lives and almost immediately felt something deep within her gut wrench to the side. Obviously these people had no idea where they were supposed to go either and were using her as some sort of leader and Rikku herself couldn't exactly blame them, she too would have done the same.

'_Auron! Auron! Where the hell are you?'_ Rikku whimpered pathetically in her mind, eyes looking everywhere for her intimidating sentinel who she desperately needed to see.

Now that she was looking around with even more focus, Rikku was starting to notice something weirdly different that hadn't been that way a few moments ago when she had been - and still was - running for her life.

Forcing herself to stop (her survival instincts were screaming at her to get her freaking butt moving) Rikku had to push herself to look back where she had just come, her swirled eyes widening at the sudden change that had happened on the people of Zanarkand.

They were all frozen. Their eyes unmoving and their breathing was non-existent, limbs stuck into place and maybe if Rikku pressed her ear against one of their chests…Maybe they would have no heartbeat too.

"She's waiting for you."

Spinning around, heart beating wildly in the fleshy armour of her skin, Rikku looked down at the voice that had startled her out of her drunken stupor.

A kid? With a funny looking hood over his face? Well, this funny looking hood was also funnily enough very wealthy-looking as well by the looks of the gold silk that was trailing down the blue fabric.

"She is waiting for you." The lone child whispered serenely, so calm in fact that it made Rikku feel almost at ease - and that was something when you had a giant creature following you whilst trying to destroy your home.

The moment of calmness dispersed, replaced with mind-numbing confusion and questions.

"Huh?" Not exactly a question but…Rikku couldn't think of what else to say at a time like this. What was she even supposed to say? Why was she even staying here when she should be trying to find Auron?

"She won't wait for you any longer."

Rikku felt her insides squirm in weariness at this boy. It was obvious that she and this boy was the only one actually moving and talking at this exact moment in time and yet to Rikku it now sounded like everyone in the whole world was talking in her ear.

Who was this she?

"The summoner. She is waiting for you." The boy turned away from her, his little body moving up and down as he smoothly walked away from her.

Rikku blinked. The summoner? There was no so-called summoner in Zanarkand…What was a summoner anyway? It was no job occupation she had ever heard of before, which was weird since she had tried to get all the job applications she could get before she became one of the Zarnarkand Abes and that was quite a lot of jobs to go through.

Her jaw clenched together tightly at the image before her. Damn it!

Rushing forward, Rikku outstretched her hand in a begging motion, her lower lip trembling slightly at the fear that had unexpectedly overtook her body.

"Hey! Wait! Listen to me!" Rikku watched the boy turn gradually, her body shaking slightly in anticipation whilst her body leaned out to grab the boy softly by the shoulder to only find out that instead of actually reaching for the solid flesh…

Rikku's hand went straight through the boy. That and it felt rather repulsive to her skin as well.

Flinching, Rikku had to squeeze her thighs together and repeat every lovely thought she ever had in her head to keep her hand there…She needed to know what on earth this kid was talking about. It felt like he was the answer to the missing conundrum that would show her what her life was about and Rikku desperately tried to cling onto it.

The boy stared up at her, his expression hidden by the hood that was covering his face however even with his concealed face, Rikku felt that he was questioning her actions with his stillness.

"Please…What are you talking about? Who is this summoner? Why is she waiting for me?" Rikku kneeled down as she spoke, her eyes becoming softer with every syllable that tumbled from her lips.

Silence. It was oddly comforting, in a very anomalous kind of way. At least with this silence then Rikku would know if the giant creature that had been so terrifying - even more than her fear of lightning and thunder - had given up its attempts of literally squashing Zanarkand.

"…" The boy didn't move and with her sudden lack of being able to touch should-be-solid things, Rikku didn't even know if the poor kid was breathing anymore.

"Please, help me. You know something." Rikku began to beg now, her eyes hardening from the understated pools that had been so calm and patient for an answer. She couldn't help it now though. This kid knew something and if Rikku was lucky enough, she'd be able to get it out of him before she most likely died today - she was pretty pessimistic for an optimistic she had to admit.

"She and you are the missing puzzles." The boy finally answered, this time stepping back away from her hand and looking over at the mid-crumbling machine shop that was suspended in mid air. "We're tired now. Will you let us sleep?"

Rikku felt her mouth go dry, every piece of saliva vanishing until Rikku felt like she'd been in a desert for a whole week without any water or food. How could she respond to that? Was this some sort of joke set up by Auron?

Rikku furrowed her brow. No. Auron didn't joke around, not even for a stupid reason did Auron joke.

"Why are you tired?" Rikku almost hit herself at the idiotic words that plunged out of her mouth, what a stupid question to ask this kid. Sure he was strange and said weird things but that didn't mean he was some person with a peculiar kind of allergy or something.

The boy turned his head towards her, his head shaking slightly as he did so as if he was afraid to look at her.

Then without any warning whatsoever, he pointed high up the sky, just above Rikku's head.

Rikku didn't turn. She was far too scared of what she was going to find up there if she even thought of turning around to see what was up.

"Sin…Your world…" The boy said this with what seemed to be a dreary accent, his hands clenched tightly into a fist with his arm still up in the air - still pointing at whatever was behind her. "We are tired."

The boy turned away from the blonde girl once again, hands dropped in a calm manner.

"Your world parallels our own. Parallels are never supposed to meet." The boy whispered tenderly, looking up at the black sky which held no stars, no past and no future. Only present. "She and you will connect our worlds…But you will not bring us together."

Rikku felt herself grow cold. The sound of the boy's voice had changed from its sentimental and kind-hearted tone to one of ruthlessness and heartless. The change made a ripple cover her whole body, making every hair at the back of her neck stand up on end.

"You will destroy us all." The boy said heatedly, swallowing before continuing with his vicious rant. "You will do the impossible. You will make the parallels meet! That is not allowed. We are being torn in two. There is already one who does not belong here. He is tearing our world. Sin is tearing your world."

Unable to stop herself at this boy's words, Rikku glanced quickly over her shoulder and almost wished she hadn't.

So…That creature was Sin. Fair enough, Sin did live up to its name with all the destruction it was causing on her home. Sin. Sin was tearing her world? Why was this her world? That wasn't right. It should be _everyone's_ world, not just her own. No, this boy was wrong. There was no such thing as parallel worlds because if there was, Zanarkand would have discovered it years ago seeming as they were the only place with such advanced technology.

"We're so tired. Trying to keep Sin back is hard…" The boy spoke mellifluously, his body starting to fade away from his feet up to his waist. "Tired…Run. She is waiting for you."

The whole world seemed to come back to life and it seemed as if the one who had created this world, Rikku, her friends, her destiny and her so-called family had pressed the play button as everything came back to life and the boy disappeared without a trace.

People was running past her, some yelling at her to hurry up while others didn't even give her a second glance as she just stood there, her body frozen in complete astonishment at what she had just witnessed.

Then the ground lurched underneath the soles of her feet, sending Rikku flying forward into the many people that was hurrying forward to try and escape the creature that by the sounds of the groaning and hisses were gaining on them fast.

Questions and questions were racing through Rikku's head, making her feel uneasy on her feet and bewildered at all the noises that was speeding through the air quickly.

_What the hell was that all about? Parallel worlds? What is going on? What did he mean by someone already being here that wasn't supposed to be here?_

"What are you doing! Rikku from the Zanarkand Abes!" Rikku turned at the sound, feeling her breathing slow into heavy pants. "Run! You've got to run!"

Yes! Of course! Rikku pumped her legs, the dry sweat that had already stained her forehead starting to once more become wet and trickle down the nape of her neck and down her shoulder blades until it reached her hips.

Now wasn't the time to try and figure out what had just happened to her, she could do that when she was safe and sound back in her apartment with food on the table and Auron telling her a stupid old legend that he'd probably made up to try and make her practice fighting or something rubbish like that. No, at the moment it was time to find someone who could save her life.

And as usual, as per usual…He was there. Waiting for her with a look of dignified impatience.

Rikku was out of breath…Honestly how Auron moved so slow and yet got to places so far away in what seemed to be in a little amount of time was beyond her, maybe he had jet packs fastened to his ankles or something bizarre like that.

Clutching at the cuff of one of his red robe sleeves, Rikku forced herself to stand up straight so that she could acknowledge her mentor properly without acting like a complete fool.

"You took your time…" Auron spoke with his rich and mellow tone, glancing down at her with his good eye whilst letting his hand fasten around something in his robe that was most likely slung around his waist.

"Say what? I found you pretty fast even if it took half my life away trying to run to the other end of freaking Zanarkand." Rikku replied back with a puff, placing both of her hands on her knees to try and regain her breath. "How the hell do you move so slow and yet so god damn fast?"

Auron didn't answer that question, instead he just glanced up at the sky with a look of inquisitiveness.

Rikku couldn't help but look up too, her forehead furrowed in puzzlement at the blank sky above her head. What was so interesting up there that she couldn't see? Either that or Auron was waiting for something to appear, something that would surely determine their fates.

There!

Gigantic chrysalis-like pods filled the vacant sky with a whole patch of grey, lighting the ground below it in a grey eerie glow that it made Rikku look and feel rather off colour because of the grey that her skin was now lit up as.

"Stand back a little." Auron commanded her firmly, pressing a hand on her stomach and pushing her back until Rikku felt her ankles hit something solid against the back of her. "We don't want to be hit by them chrysalis pods just yet."

Rikku in turn rolled her eyes. "Gee, when should we get hit by them?"

Auron didn't reply to that either, instead he just smirked wryly at her before looking straight ahead and tapping his foot twice to make a sort of unique rhythm Rikku hadn't heard before.

_BOOM_

Rikku jumped back at the sound, her eyes observing the scene that was now upon both her and Auron at the same time as trying to clear the smoke that had started to clog up her vision with its black miasma.

"Sinspawn." Auron commented dryly, kneeling down so that his knees just skimmed the ground below them both and his left hand was resting deep within his robe at the same time as his right hand moving up to his back where his katana was.

The smoke cleared and what stood there chilled Rikku to the bone.

Metallic clicks and hisses came from the four legged creatures along with sharp snaps of their jaws whenever they slammed together in undeniable yearning for their prey and their wings started to buzz and flicker dangerously. There were tons of them, surrounding both Rikku and Auron in a circle of predatory silver and treacherous turquoise and without a doubt they were all extremely outraged at the skins of warmth that surrounded them.

These Sinspawn didn't look a friendly bunch that was for sure.

"Rikku." Auron nudged her slightly with his knee, making Rikku shake a little at the unexpected force. "Don't kill any old how, kill the ones that block our path."

Rikku nodded in response, she knew what she had to do to that. It was pretty simple really. If she wanted to live, she'd kill the only ones that blocked their path to the end of the street however if she wanted to die she'd try to kill them all and would never see anyone she knew ever again…

Right. Now that she knew her options, Rikku felt her old joyful, euphoric grin take over her face.

Clenching her hands into fists, Rikku charged forward towards these so-called Sinspawns with her weight feeling buoyant and smug as her right fist went first straight into the unimaginable hard shell of the waiting Sinspawn.

With a grunt of pain, Rikku continued her assault on the indomitable - that is what it seemed - metal armour, feeling her knuckles start to bleed at how much power she was putting into her punches and how much she was receiving from the hard shell.

Then without Rikku even noticing, a long silver claw flung at her at such speed that Rikku bit her tongue which resulted in her spitting blood as she soared through the air to land directly besides Auron's feet.

"Are you alright?" Auron asked her quietly, unsheathing his katana with a grimace on his expression at the blood that was leaking out of Rikku's knuckles.

Rikku glanced down at her own knuckles, wincing at how sore and tender they looked thanks to the Sinspawn giving her a paint job…Little buggers. It wasn't exactly a free paint job either.

"I'm alright. I'll live! But yikes, how do you even scratch those things?" Rikku asked her mentor, both of her eyebrows lifted questioningly at the seething Sinspawn that was hissing and scratching the ground the beneath them. "I haven't even left a dent!"

Auron chuckled deprecatingly, the hand that was in his robe now coming free to bring out a rather strange looking item Rikku had never seen before. Well, she'd seen ones like it and had practiced with ones of that sort as well but she had never ever seen that sort of weird-looking weapon before.

It was a Mirage Claw all right and it looked exactly her size, it's red print having three identical looking claws that stuck out all around the knuckles and the gem that had a strange symbol on it looked rather extraordinary too.

"A present from Cid." Auron murmured with his bleak humour, dropping the Claw directly in her bloodied hands before rushing forward towards the eager waiting Sinspawn.

'_Dad?_' Rikku gazed down at her present longingly, her eyes glazed over at the fact that her dad had given her this present…Just for her. Nobody else. She slipped the Mirage Claw on, she didn't know what the name was of the Mirage Claw just yet, but she would know soon enough once she and Auron got out of this mess.

'_So he did care…Hah! That shows those guys who didn't think he did!'_ Rikku thought triumphantly, already feeling ready to go and show those Sinspawn who was boss around here.

Springing up, Rikku rushed forward to join her mentor who by the looks of it was already getting into things, chipping off these Sinspawn creatures wings with cuts and slices of his katana.

"You should know how to use it I'm assuming." Auron spoke to her with a soft murmur, brushing a stubborn Sinspawn off with a tilt of his shoulders.

"Duh! You make me train with these sort of weapons every day!" Rikku responded back with a bored chuckle, digging her Mirage Claw into one of the Sinspawn's wings. "What is this sort of Mirage Claw anyway?"

With a twirl and a duck, Rikku lifted a charging Sinspawn up in the air with her Mirage Claw, scraping and penetrating the Sinspawn's strange metal armour with her piercing Claw and denting it with her fierce kick.

"No time to explain about what certain Mirage Claw it is." Auron responded sourly back with a light grunt, slashing down the last Sinspawn in front of them. "We've got to keep moving. There might be more."

"What do you mean there might be more? Isn't that big dude over there called Sin enough?" Rikku complained, nudged her head in aggravation. "Gee I just wanna go and sleep already! When can we go and do that?"

Auron didn't answer her - yet again - and rushed forward, leaving Rikku to stare at his retreating back.

"Hey! Quit ignoring and running away from me you drunken old-ughh!" With a stamp of her foot, Rikku ran after he mentor, a scowl on her features.

'_He always ignores me! Gee…!'_

Auron stopped all of a sudden and before Rikku could stop herself, she could see why her mentor had stopped.

A large black metal Sinspawn - she had no idea if that was the name for this creature, all she knew was that it hadn't been there yesterday - stood in their way, tons and tons of the little winged Sinspawn's surrounding it in a tight, strong and defensive circle.

Well, to be fair it looked like a gigantic old fashioned boom box that she and Lance had fixed for his neighbour but a lot more scarier due to the funny-looking tentacle things that was sticking out on the top.

"Get rid of the winged Sinspawn first before you attack the bigger Sinspawn, you might get hurt trying to get to it." Auron explained to her matter-of-factly, his full and soft voice clearing Rikku's head from the uncertainties that had been there before. "We'll be out of this mess soon enough."

Rikku sighed in response, feeling sated her at her mentor's words. It'd be over soon? Good, she really needed to sleep after this…Her muscles were already aching from all the running she'd been doing. It's not that she wasn't in good shape but her head was still aching from last night.

"Good! Cause I'm hungry!" Rikku responded back with a cheeky grin, rubbing her stomach playfully whilst nudging her mentor with her elbow. "And you're going to cook! Right?"

"I doubt we'll be able to go back to your place, never mind make food." Auron snorted, rushing toward and slicing through two winged Sinspawn in a matter of seconds.

"Gee, ruin the mood Auron. Can't afford to give me any hope at all can you?" Rikku muttered underneath her breath bitterly, folding her arms whilst looking at the approaching winged Sinspawns.

"Of course not. But a hand would be nice." Auron grumbled in response, hacking away at the winged Sinspawn until Rikku was sure that her mentor's hands were actually bleeding from the powerful grip he had on the blade.

"Yessir!" Rikku charged forward, twirling and kicking out at the winged Sinspawn with a confident, cocky grin on her features.

Even if it didn't do much to the health of her foot, Rikku slammed and whirled her foot into the armour, wincing and flinching at the pain that sprung up her foot and into her head as she did so.

Grounding her fists around most of the winged Sinspawn, Rikku slammed most of them against the sides of the barriers or sent them flying behind her as she used her Mirage Claw to infiltrate the impossibly-strong armour and send these Sinspawn into scrap metal.

"Heh-heh! This is easy! We'll be back home for supper at this rate!" Rikku sang joyfully, jumping back and fourth between the winged Sinspawn that was trying to claw at her with their wings and legs whilst also using her legs and Claw to grind her way past through the oncoming Sinspawn.

"Don't get so cocky. There's going to be more after these. Swarms of them." Auron reminded her with a dry grin, swinging his katana around to slice four winged Sinspawn at once. "People who become cocky are normally the ones whose stories end quicker than others."

Rikku shook her head in reply, stepping on one of the wings of her opponent so that she could jump behind it and slash two of them at once with her Claw and then guard with her right arm at anything else that tried to attack her. Honestly, Auron really just knew how to curdle the mood with his words.

"What crawled up your ass and died?" Rikku ducked and dodged her opponents, laughing gleefully at their vain attempts to snatch her in their claws and wings.

Auron didn't reply, instead he sliced down the last winged Sinspawn through the middle with a smirk and proceeded forward towards the menacing giant Sinspawn with the black tentacles.

Rikku shook off the metal dust and scrap that had lingered on her skin after defeating most of the Sinspawn, cringing at how it stung into her skin and how it clung to her when she tried to get rid of it - which resulted to Rikku scratching at the metal and scrap with her nails until eventually the scrap and dust did fall off.

"That is why I told you not to get cocky. The aftermath isn't very pleasant." Auron told her deviously, pushing himself away from the prying tentacles that had started to twirl around wildly.

Rikku in response stuck her tongue out at her mentor nevertheless, Rikku did join her mentor in his fight against this Sinspawn, waiting until Auron had finished slaying and chopping at the body of the large Sinspawn before she quickly whirled around to slash her Claw against the black metal.

"Get outta my town already you big lump of junk!" Rikku yelled at the menacing Sinspawn in front of her, enraged.

Before Rikku could do anything more against the generously proportioned Sinspawn, she saw a purple light appear around both her and Auron, little at first before exploding into one gigantic bomb of purple light.

Rikku's eyes drooped suddenly, slumping to the ground on her knees with her head between her thighs, forehead skimming the ground as she shuddered against the undeniable cold that was creeping up her spine. It had happened so suddenly…Maybe it had been that purple-like bomb? But how could it have been? Rikku hadn't felt anything when that bomb had exploded, nothing at all. Hell, she didn't even feel pain or even a slight tickle which worried her immensely as she slowly started to realize something that was so obvious she was surprised it hadn't hit her in the face a few seconds ago.

"That was an attack that drains 1/4th of your health. That is why you're feeling exhausted already. But don't worry, it won't do anything anymore now that it has took 1/4th of your health." Auron explained to her gently, kneeling down so that he was her level and lifting her neck up so that she could see clearly and take deep breaths to help her get back on her feet again. "Stand. We haven't got much time left. Ject doesn't wait for anybody."

Rikku inhaled stiffly, eyes closed and chest heaving as she clutched on the red sleeve of her mentor with a such a fierce grip that she was a little bit worried she'd rip the fabric if she pulled it down to try and help herself up.

"Breathe Rikku and get up." Auron commanded her however this time he's tone was a lot rougher and stern. "I'm fighting this thing back with one hand and believe it or not I'm going to lose if you stay behind."

Rikku exhaled, pushing the red material down so that she could use it to her balance herself upright.

"Alright. I'm up. Just give me a sec and I'll be right with ya." Rikku pressed her both of her palms onto her knees, shaking her shoulders a little to try and wake herself up from the drowsy state she had been in a few moments ago. "That attack really makes ya sleep y'know?"

Auron chuckled throatily in response, slicing at a tentacle that had started to lunge towards them both. "Funny, I didn't feel anything."

Rikku frowned and blew a raspberry at her mentor. "You're such a show-off."

With a frustrated sigh, Rikku pushed herself forward towards the bigger Sinspawn with a growl and a kick which only resulted in her hurting her foot and denting the black metal with her Mirage Claw.

"Damn it! It's not working like it did before!" Rikku growled with her teeth clenched, punching repeatedly at the Sinspawn with her Mirage Claw and fist. "What gives huh?"

"You really don't expect every fiend to be like the one before it do you?" Auron replies back to her with his usual sombre tone. "What you're doing right now is fine anyway. I'll just keep the tentacles away from you whilst you work on the body."

Rikku in turn pouted. "I'm not seeing the bright side of all this fighting."

"You'll survive." Auron told her, taking his chance to slice all the way through the large Sinspawn with a jab of his katana.

"Thanks Mr Optimistic." Rikku muttered underneath her breath, helping her mentor slash open the larger Sinspawn by digging the tip of her claws where the rip Auron had created and by then ripping it upwards so that it hit the Sinspawn straight where the turquoise tentacles connected to its body.

Scrap and dust flew everywhere, catching Rikku in the eyes so sneakily that Rikku didn't even realize that their was pain anywhere near her eye until she blinked hard and the sudden pain shot up into her head.

"Yeowch! Stupid little, big fiend!" Rikku yelled, rubbing her eyes with her hands and arms until her eyes felt sore and tender like she had been crying. "You could have warned me y'know?" Rikku finished her sentence by sending a angry glare at her chuckling mentor.

"I was about to warn you about that. But as usual, you got a little overexcited and took it too far." Auron assured Rikku with a little laugh, kicking off the scrap that had clung to his boots before continuing on towards the end of the long road where only water lay. "Hurry! Ject won't wait for anyone!"

Rikku spat the last bit of dust out of her mouth, cringing at the empty taste that it left on her tongue before glancing up to see Auron's retreating back.

"Will you quit doing that? Geez! I'm only tiny compared to you!" Rikku yelled at her withdrawing mentor. "Wait up already! Damn it!"

"Sin does not wait." Auron didn't yell his answer back, but still made it loud and clear with his voice without going over the top. However, he knew that Rikku would hear him anyway and she would also be the only one who would take notice of him when he mentioned Sin.

"Well screw Sin and lets get outta here!" Rikku roared back, running at her mentor at the most highest speed she could to try and get away from the menacing thuds and hisses that was coming from behind her. "Just wait up!"

Auron did as she asked unexpectedly, stopping so abruptly that Rikku managed to crash into his back as she got nearer to him. Which wasn't so good seeming as Auron was practically made of muscle compared to her in height and weight, resulting in Rikku feeling that her nose had practically been squashed against a concrete wall.

"Oww! Geez! Auron what the hell is going on-" Rikku stopped, her eyes widening at the shudder from underneath her feet. "What the hell is doing this?"

"No time to explain. We have to keep moving until we reach the water." Auron ignored her question as he always did, rushing forward to reach up the higher level of road.

Rikku followed, muttering under her breath about her mentor being insane and whatnot and during that time, she allowed herself to think about everything that kid had told her.

'_Parallel worlds cannot exist. Nothing has ever been said about them apart from they were all legends and fakes. Nothing has been proved. But that child, he just disappeared once everything started moving again…He faded away just like powder and sand, like he was weakening because the link of this world was too strong for him to connect to for so long.' _

'_But that doesn't make sense…What world could this be paralleled too? Does that mean there's another parallel me too? Another Zanarkand? Well that'd suck, seeming as this place is such a bore. But…What is going on?'_

'_Nothing that kid said made any sense but I can just tell his telling the truth, like he holds something that is truly important but is trying to hide and protect it. Ohhh! All of this thinking is making my brain hurt!'_

"Rikku! Hit that tanker over there!" Auron was now commanding her to do something, pointing towards a tanker that was hanging over the edge of the road which WOULD lead to a killer drop.

Rikku shook her head, clearing her thoughts and with that done, she quickly glanced over at the tanker.

"Why do I have to hit a tanker again?" Rikku scratched her head at her mentor, an eyebrow arched in a questioning manner.

Rikku glanced around and discovered her answer in a matter of seconds.

They were surrounded by what seemed dozens of Sinspawn, screeching and hissing at them with their venomous little charcoal eyes and their wings seemed to be flickering crazily like if they all had some sort of sugar rush - which Rikku envied them for because right now she needed more than sugar to keep her going.

"Oh…Okay! Auron! Cover me!" Rikku called over her shoulder towards her mentor, jumping over Sinspawn and twirling to try and get closer towards the tanker with her exhilarated adrenaline rush.

"Be careful! You might go over with it if you keep rushing in like that!" Auron called after her but Rikku wasn't listening, all she had on her mind at that moment was getting to her destination and helping Auron get past these Sinspawn to the water where they could hopefully escape.

With her Mirage Claw, she slashed and scraped at the metal ball that was keeping the tanker together - along with the purple energy but at that time, Rikku focused on trying to get rid of the metal ball instead of the energy - watching the piece of metal shake and start to shatter.

Yet before Rikku could celebrate, something sharp hit her between the shoulder blades of her exposed back…Something extremely sharp.

"Yeowch! Auron! A little help here!" Rikku yelled over her shoulder at her mentor, glaring evilly at the Sinspawn that was starting to scratch at her back with all its might.

Rikku ignored the throbbing pain that was making tears well up in eyes, she didn't care if she most likely going to be scarred for life because of what this stupid Sinspawn was doing, she just needed to escape and grab everyone she could so they could escape with her and Auron.

"Rikku! You're taking too long! I let you train at Lance's mechanic store for a reason!" Auron was shouting at her now, his voice irritated and most likely his body weary from the non-stop fighting.

And in that second, Rikku felt like she had just had the biggest epiphany ever to exist in her lifetime.

"Alright you big meanie! I'm on it already! Sheesh!" But that didn't mean she was pleased at being told to hurry, even if Sinspawns were literally scratching at her back.

Pocketing her Mirage Claw in the leather belt that was slung around her waist, Rikku grabbed her last birthday present from Lance - a Zanarkand pocket knife that could cut through this sort of energy (and any other energy really) if done right - and started to twist and turn at the energy that was pulsing through the tanker.

"C'mon, c'mon already! Get to the source point! Get to the source point!" Rikku muttered encouragingly to herself, her teeth grinding together at the pending aggravation of every time she got near the source point, it slipped through her fingers like water. "Get to the damn source point already!"

"Rikku! Sin doesn't wait for anyone! Hurry with the tanker!" Auron's voice was oddly calm as he yelled at her however Rikku could hear the strain in his tone as well - most likely because he was being more than scratched trying to keep them away from her whilst defending himself.

"I'm trying already! It's kinda hard y'know?" Rikku grumbled, this time taking a different tactic of grabbing the meta ball between the purple energy and forcing her knife to slice through the middle of the source point, a triumphant smirk on her face as the tanker started to slip off the edge of the road and started crashing against the buildings that were near it. It would soon lead into the result that both she and Auron were waiting for.

"Yeehaw! I did it! Just like I knew I would!"

With a grin mixed with a smirk, Rikku let her body bend so that her hand her left hand was pressed against the concrete of the road that she and Auron was on and so that she could look behind her without straining her head.

Large amounts of Sinspawns were coming at her and by the looks of their hurried movements, they could sense that their end was coming as well as Rikku could and with a giggle, Rikku back flipped over them all with a celebratory leap of smugness.

She landed next to her mentor, a giggle escaping her once more at the look of edginess on his face. "I know, I'm made of pure awesome. You don't have to say anything you big old meanie." She punched her mentor lightly in the ribs, earning a soft grunt from him.

Silence fell between them, Auron was still grimacing and Rikku was still giggling and smiling impishly.

"Let's go."

Rikku stuck out her lower lip, following her mentor with her arms crossed and her eyes stuck on the side of his head. "You do know that you've said that about FIVE times already! Sheesh!" Rikku placed both of her hands at the side of her head, tilting her head left and right as she walked, breaking out into little giggles as she did so.

"Heh-heh, y'know that was kinda fun! Where do those Sinspawn come from anyway? Apart from Sin of course, because I'd have fun training with them even if they do kinda give you some damage when you do y'know?" Rikku babbled on, ignoring the look of blankness that was Auron's expression.

"They are also dangerous enough to make you bleed immensely." Auron responded to his student acrimoniously, motioning towards the younger woman's back. "You should be more careful."

Rikku shrugged, wincing a little at the action because of the pain it caused. "I'll be fine. I'll get it healed later. Once this is all over that is."

Auron looked down at his student for a while, wondering if he should tell Rikku what he planned to do now that he felt that he had finished looking after her…That and it didn't help that Sin had suddenly turned up all of a sudden.

Instead he glanced over his shoulder, watching the flames burst up from the darkness below which would lead to the whole road collapsing until they got to the road that went straight to the water, which they were about a hundred foot away from and would probably make it if he and Rikku ran fast enough.

"Come."

Rikku glanced sideways at her mentor, just in time to see him rush forward and jump down the ledge of one road and onto another that had fallen down slightly at the impact of Sin hitting the ocean that had crashed into the Zanarkand Blitz Stadium.

"HEY! Ugh! Wait til I get my hands on you Auron! You big meanie!" Rikku shouted at her mentor, rushing forward to also jump down the ledge of the road.

The road shifted underneath her feet and before Rikku knew it, explosions were starting to appear all around her body and feet.

"Eep! Not good! Not good!" Rikku squealed, rushing forward and trying to keep her balance at the same time - the fact that the platform beneath her feet was about to fall made her careful and Rikku scanned most of the area with one sweep of her eyes to try and see if anything would try and bring her down at the last second so that she could either jump over it or dodge its attempts.

The blonde jumped over some tall explosions that were threatening to burn her legs straight off, the heat already starting to make her sweat immensely added with her weary body that had only just cooled down, heating up again so much that the only way to describe Rikku at the moment was OVERHEATED.

She was falling! She could feel the platform dropping from underneath her feet at the very moment she was coming so near to the other end of the road so that she could leap up and grasp the ledge of the road that would lead to the water but if the platform fell before she could…

No! She needed to make it! Rikku pumped her legs faster, using her arms to push the wind behind her so that she could move and fly through the air a lot faster than she had before. Her legs were killing her but she so needed to get to the ledge where Auron most likely was, she needed too and she was so close but…

Suddenly the platform was falling and with this on her mind, Rikku strapped her Mirage Claw back on and leaped forward towards the ledge, her Mirage Claw also outstretched - if she was right on the target, she'd be able to dig her Mirage Claw into the platform without falling.

Success! Her Mirage Claw managed to dig into the platform without it catching on to any spare bit of bent muscle in the concrete of the platform otherwise she'd be falling right down into the darkness below her.

Rikku was just about to haul herself onto the platform when a large shadow fell over her, shielding the bright lights of Zanarkand away from her.

She glanced up, eyes wide and every muscle in her body tensing dramatically as the familiar black tinted glasses stared down at her.

"AURON!" Rikku cried out towards her mentor, using the hand that wasn't holding the Mirage Claw, Rikku reached out towards Auron with a pleading look in her eyes. "Help me up here!"

Auron didn't seem to be listening to her, in fact he turned his back on her for a moment to stare at something Rikku had overlooked when she had been so desperate to get herself back onto the road to the water…And she was a bit irritated that she had actually disregarded it.

Sin was right behind Auron, almost covering them both with it's rocky - as it seemed - surface and funnily enough what made Rikku more shocked was that Sin wasn't doing anything, hell he looked quite dead by the looks of it.

Abruptly - startling Rikku to the core - Sin lurched forward so that a light coming from the bottom of his underside started to shine behind Auron's back which blocked it out for her so that it wouldn't shine in her eyes and a deep wail came from the seemingly intolerant Sin.

Without warning, Auron turned back towards her, a certain look in his eyes making goosebumps appear on Rikku's arms before turning back again towards Sin.

"You are sure?" Auron was clenching his fists and if Rikku stared hard enough she could see that the hair on his arms were stood up on end. "Cid would not approve I am sure. But you are sure."

Rikku started to haul herself up, already sick of this business with Auron talking with Sin - of all people - and especially over something ridiculous as her pops worried over what was best for her.

Nonetheless before she could pull herself back onto the platform that would lead to her safety - or her death seeming as Sin was practically on top of her - she felt something grab behind her neck and lifted her up straight off her feet.

Rikku gasped, trying to wriggle out of Auron's firm grip however failing at how tight the grip actually was.

"Auron! Put me down! We've gotta get out of-"

Auron lifted up higher, so high in fact that Rikku felt herself shy away from the light that was so powerful that in a weird way Rikku felt herself grow weary and drowsy all of a sudden.

Bits and pieces of rubble hit against her neck and back - the rubble going against her back making her wince at how it scraped against the wound - making Rikku realize that most of the things around her was being absorbed straight into Sin's underside core where the light was coming from.

"This is it." Auron spoke to her, his face blank as he lifted her higher and higher as he spoke. "This is your story."

Rikku felt as if she was flying, her blonde hair was whipping her in the face and the beads that were laced with the strands flew everywhere around her. Rikku's swirly green eyes widened at the declining Auron who by the looks of it was being _sucked_ in through Auron's core and by the looks of it, she was going to be going where Auron was too.

"It begins here Rikku."

Fading and diminishing…Rikku felt light overflow her senses and before she knew where the hell she was going…

She lost consciousness in the light.

_FFX;_


	3. Chapter 2

_I decided to skip Baaj Temple because to me it didn't seem to have any remote purpose. Oh and for people who are confused. Rikku is wearing her Thief outfit from FFX-2. Kthnx. Translations of Al Bhed are below. In this chapter, we learn more about Rikku, Cid, where he went, where the hell Rikku actually is and Lulu's talking with the Fayth._

CHAPTER 2

'_Ugh…Where am I? And why is it so damn dark?'_

It was true, Rikku couldn't see anything of what was going on and to add onto that, she couldn't talk either because someone had gagged her with some old dirty cloth that was rubbing horribly against her mouth.

'_Am I in Zanarkand still? Where's Auron?' _Rikku if she could of, would have bitten her tongue to punish herself at that thought.

'_Course I'm not in stupid Zanarkand. Auron would have saved my sad ass by now and I would be eating my dinner.'_ Rikku grumbled to herself, wishing that the boat she was on would quit swaying so that her stomach wouldn't growl angrily at her for punishing it by going on a boat.

Why would someone kidnap her and put her on a boat for anyway? It didn't make any sense in her opinion, not that much did thanks to the lingering headache which was most likely caused by hitting her head hard struggling to get rid of her captor's grip.

"Fryd ec ed tu oui drehg?" A gruff voice entered Rikku's mind for a moment, making her jump and penetrating the calmness inside of her head with its loud and rough tone.

"Y veaht eh teckieca yc y risyh?" Another voice said. This one more quiet and demure, a peacemakers voice.

"Dyga y muug yd ran suna lmucamo, fa luimt pa secdygah." A young woman's voice, clearly over eighteen. Her voice was soft and lyrical, so lyrical in fact that Rikku found herself almost snoozing off into a daydream again.

"Nedus, kad net uv dra pmehtvumt yht kyk." The gruff voice again…Ugh. Rikku had no idea what these people was saying but whatever they were saying, it sounded as if they discussing her capture.

'_I have a REALLY bad feeling about this. I must have hit my head back in Zanarkand or something because I've never known people to speak this sort of language, especially a language I don't know.'_ Rikku thought sullenly, mildly surprised when the gag and blindfold that was covering her was lifted away from her mouth and swirled eyes.

Three people. All of them looking at her strangely, the demure voiced one lifting her arms up and tracing her skin with their finger, the gruff voiced one seemed to be looking at her hair with minor curiosity and the woman had grabbed both of her shoulders and was staring directly into her eyes.

Rikku arched her eyebrow up in inquisitiveness, studying the young woman who was grappling her shoulders like a lifeline.

She was a brunette, quite short for her age by the looks of it, her features were fixed into a serious look but from what Rikku could tell by the corners of her mouth it looked like she was normally a cheerful soul who like Rikku, was very optimistic about things.

But what shocked the most wasn't the fact that they had the same chirpiness about them, of course that was something that you could hardly find in another person that wasn't yourself but…

The eyes of this woman and of all the others actually startled and chilled Rikku to the core.

"Hey! You've got the same eyes as me! All of you have!" Rikku exclaimed, a grin making its way on her face as she looked closer into the young woman's eyes with growing excitement.

When she had been young in Zanarkand, Rikku could just barely remember kids teasing her about her strange eyes and even to her, they were very strange-looking eyes indeed.

Evergreen eyes with weird swirls that reminded people of hypno screens? Yeah, those were the ones.

When asking Auron why her eyes were how they were, he had merely just told her it was in her blood and had left it at that and Rikku wasn't dumb enough to keep whinging to Auron about it because Auron wouldn't say anything else apart from it was in her blood and that was IT.

It had really sucked actually, being different had really, really sucked at that moment in time because of how different she was from the other children in Zanarkand.

Teased and insulted, Rikku had pretty much got used to everyone called her a freak because of her eyes so whenever anyone noticed her bizarre-looking eyes she would merely just shrug it off and use Auron's excuse to cover it up.

Rikku looked closely at the young, brunette woman, scrutinizing the woman's face like one would use to examine a map when lost at sea. These woman's eyes…They weren't exactly like hers, well one of them was but the other was blue and had different kind of swirls that went the opposite direction of the swirls on her green eye.

'_The others have the same colour eyes as me but this woman hasn't…Wait, wait, wait! Auron said it ran in my family…Meaning that these people…'_ Rikku inspected her capturer's faces carefully. '_These people could be my family?'_

"Hey!" Rikku squealed, kicking her legs wildly in a way to get rid of all her pumped up energy that was starting to make her mind absolutely dizzy. "Hey! Do you know anyone called Cid?" She looked around at them all, waiting for their answer with her heart stuck in her throat.

The brunette gasped all of a sudden, a smile gracing her lips and a giggle escaping from her throat as she moved back with unbelievable grace to hug her fellow companions.

"Cra'c uha uv ic!" The brunette cried out with unmistakable happiness, bringing her poor companions closer to her as she did so. "Yht oui ghuf fryd amca E drehg? E drehg cra'c Cid'c tyikrdan!"

At this, the one with the sort of gas mask kind of thing on his face pulled away and crossed his arms in a look of disbelief at the shake of his head. Rikku couldn't really tell though, his mask covered his emotions and expression.

"Cid'c tyikrdan? _Esbuccepma! _Cid dumt ic dryd rec tyikrdan teat hehadaah oaync yku!" He spoke angrily, almost as if the brunette had insulted him and due to his response that had been so heated, Rikku felt like a fight was going to begin sooner or later.

However, just when Rikku was about to speak up to 'cool' the atmosphere with her probably exasperating questions on where Cid was to try and help the woman out of the situation she had dug herself into with this dude…The brunette woman brought back her head and laughed shrilly.

"Hud esbuccepma o'ghuf?" The brunette glanced at Rikku for a moment, giving her a sly wink before returning to speak to her masked companion. "E'mm zicd ycg ran ruf umt cra ec! Tir!"

Rikku stuck out her lower lip. How could she know what they were saying if she didn't understand a word of what language they were using? They could be planning for her to get killed right now and she wouldn't think anything of it, to feel so helpless frustrated Rikku to the down right core. Damn it! Why couldn't they speak English anyway? It wasn't as if they had any secret identities or anything and if they did, well they weren't very secret if they ALL talked in that language.

The brunette turned towards Rikku, a cheerful and not to mention friendly smile on her features as she leaned down so that they could only see each others eyes and forehead. Her lips parted slightly and Rikku felt hot breath on her whole face and collarbone in addition to the heat, Rikku bit her lip softly to try and get rid of the hot flush on her face.

"Hey there! I'm Yuna and I know this is going to be a VERY awkward question, but how old are you?" The brunette asked Rikku animatedly, thrashing her hands everywhere as if she was trying to hand-sign all of her words to try and get Rikku to understand - which wasn't needed as Rikku pretty much only knew the English language. "And what's ya name too?"

With this question asked, Rikku furrowed her brows and narrowed her eyes at the brunette, a suspicious grimace on her thin lips. Even if this woman was very much like her, Rikku saw no reason to tell this woman her name furthermore she had no right to know her age either.

Sniffing, Rikku turned her head to the other side so that she was staring straight at the dude with the mask on who was glancing between her and the brunette woman with the body expression of one who had no idea what to do to help. Whatever, she was just glad that her blonde hair covered most of her face so that the brunette woman wouldn't see her properly and start questioning her about anything else she didn't particularly want anyone else to know about.

"Listen, this isn't for me or anyone else at that matter. I just want to know your age so I can match it up to Cid's -" Yuna didn't have to continue, Rikku had already turned her face to look directly at her.

"What about my dad do you know?" Rikku asked Yuna, her eyes wide and full of childish interest. "Is he here?" At that, Rikku looked around her at her surroundings, searching for her father.

Nothing. The only thing that wasn't covered by the night was a little blue, light sphere that was circling around an entrance which could possibly lead to where her Pops was…

Even if her Pops was down there, she couldn't even get to the entrance without her three captors probably bouncing on her which anyway would only lead to her having some more bruises and scrapes that she'd have to get someone to heal later.

"Uh." Yuna glanced over her shoulder for a moment, giving a weary and strained smile to her companions. "Ar Nedus, cruimt fa damm ran frana Cid ec cu cra lyh ku muug vun res?"

Rikku coughed. "Can't you speak English please? I have no idea what the hell you're saying y'know? Sheesh." Rikku kicked her legs out sulkily, her eyebrows pulled together in impatience.

Yuna ignored her with a flick of her wrist, knowing very well how she felt seeming as she had been in a very similar situation when she had first been captured by the Al Bhed - the second time she had just given up and had asked to join them so she could be kept safe away from the Yevonites…

Nedus crossed his arms and tutted underneath his mouth, shaking his head at the sight of the young blonde Al Bhed that was staring directly at him with a look of venomous anger.

"Hu, hud oad. Fa haat cusauha du ramb ic muug yd dra niehc pahaydr ic." Nedus glanced at Yuna for a moment before letting his gaze flicker over to the still annoyed and impatient Rikku. "Pacetac...Oui teth'd damm ic ran hysa un ran yka. E tuh'd dnicd ran ahuikr du ryja dryd ehvunsydeuh."

Yuna in response, bobbed out her tongue at Nedus before turning to the waiting Rikku. "Uh. Really, can't you just tell me your name or anything? It could help leading us to Cid."

Rikku crossed her legs together, leaning back against the solid black wall that she had been rested against as she had slept with a glare on her expression. "But I don't know you. Why would I tell you anything?"

Yuna grabbed both sides of her head and let out an exaggerated groan, knocking her head side to side as she did so. "You are really making this hard for me y'know? C'mon already! We might be related and you wouldn't even know about it. Aren't you the least bit excited you may be Cid's kid?"

Rikku snorted, crossing her arms against her chest and letting out a guttural growl from her thin lips. "I am Cid's kid. Auron told me. He talked about Cid all the time back in Zanarkand."

Nedus snarled throatily, pulling out a knife and thrusting it towards Rikku's throat - making Rikku hold her breath against the cold, barren metal - in a threatening manner.

"Zanarkand? Ehcumahla!" Nedus kneeled down next to Rikku, pressing the blade closer and closer to the blonde's quivering porcelain skin. "E tuh'd lyna ev ed'c Cid'c get! Fa cruimt cmed ran drnuyd frana cra cdyhtc!"

"Blappa!" Yuna called all of a sudden, pulling at Nedus's right arm - which held the knife - whilst using her left leg to curl around Nedus's waist to try and pull him back which ended in Yuna's back against the cold floor at the same time as tugging Nedus's arm away.

Blappa (the one with the gruff voice and the goggles fitted over his eyes who had been looking at Rikku like she was pudding) suddenly lurched forward on Nedus's back with his arms wrapped around Nedus's neck in a futile attempt to try and keep Nedus back.

Nevertheless, even if most of his efforts were vain it didn't stop Blappa from hitting Nedus repeatedly over the head and shouting something in his own language - which of course, Rikku didn't understand.

"Nedus! Lyms oui vuum! Fa vuiht ran yd cay! Cra sekrd ryja red ran rayt un cusadrehk!" Blappa wailed heatedly, struggling to get a better grip of Nedus's neck now that he was falling off.

"Ignore Nedus!" Yuna screamed over Blappa's body - which was still wrestling with Nedus's own - a bright and cheery grin on her face. "He's really a nice guy y'know?"

Rikku didn't take any notice of this, instead she was now planning her escape route with a watchful eye…

Two escape routes. One having almost no possibility of surviving without being captured or killed and the other she had a very slim chance of being able to swim so long that she'd find a land without collapsing.

'_I'm screwed.'_ Rikku thought sourly, feeling the pessimism inside of her start to suck up the optimism she had been clinging onto all this time she had been awake, running from Sin and finally ending up here - where she had no clue where she was.

'_But it IS better than staying here and getting knifed to death.'_ Rikku looked at the rails that stopped the waves crashing onto the ship's deck with a gleeful glint in her swirled eyes.

Nedus was continuing to try and get her with his steel knife, his body literally judder ring because of the growls and snarls that was ripping through his parted lips and making him sound like a demented banshee in Rikku's opinion.

With an unimpressed yawn, Rikku outstretched her legs, waited for the right moment and kicked Nedus hard in the jaw so hard in fact that he tumbled back on Yuna and Blappa with a roar.

Pushing herself up with her free hand - the other was clenched tightly around her Mirage Claw - Rikku stumbled up and rushed towards the rails, a confident and buoyant grin of determination on her effervescent face.

She was going to make it, somehow.

Pulling the Mirage Claw from her leather belt and strapping it over her right knuckle, Rikku pushed off with her feet as she got closer to the rails, stretching out with all might until she felt all of her muscles tense in strain.

Just as Rikku was so sure that she was going to soar over the rails and plummet straight into the icy depths of the water below, something hard and blunt knocked her in the back of her neck and a rough, edgy hand tugged at her ankle, sending her sprawling backwards into the warmth of soft arms.

Her back hit the chest of Yuna violently, making Rikku wince and twitch at the pain that shot up from her back and into her head - which was already aching thanks to someone hitting her there.

Rikku blinked, trying to regain consciousness and at the same time fighting back the corners of the dark black that was starting to take over vision ferociously with the mind-numbing throbbing at the back of her neck.

"Damn it! Wake up! Don't go to sleep!" Yuna seemed to be shaking her shoulders as she held her across her chest, panic starting to creep into her voice. "C'mon! Wake up!"

Rikku rubbed the back of her neck, using her other hand to pinch her exposed navel just below her breasts even if she knew it was useless and by the way that the dark was making everything blurry, Rikku felt her head start to fall in between her thighs.

"Hey! Hey!" Yuna was shaking her shoulders again, this time harder so that every time she did so, Rikku's bare (and scarred) back hit against Yuna's chest.

Agitated by the sting - and by the thump that was her back hitting Yuna - Rikku pulled herself out of Yuna's grip, spun around and glowered at the brunette in malevolence.

"Sheesh! What's with all the hitting and shaking? Can't you see the scars on my back?" Rikku snapped haughtily, turning around slightly to show Yuna her scars that the Sinspawn had tattooed on her porcelain skin. "Still hurts y'know? You big meanie!"

Yuna in response just chuckled quietly to herself - earning another scowl from Rikku - and a slight grunt from Nedus and Blappa (as Yuna called them).

Though even if Yuna was laughing, Rikku was slightly pleased at the look of astonishment and amazement that had shaped Yuna's face into a thin line of concentration as she looked at her wounds - they were pretty impressive after all (in Rikku's mind anyway).

"Whoa!" Yuna finally said, leaning forward so that she could run a delicate finger down Rikku's raw and bruised aching back, earning a slight shudder and a snarl from the blonde. "When did this happen?"

Rikku glanced at Yuna over her shoulder, smug that she had at least gotten some attention with showing these people her scars…So much attention in fact that if she wanted to she could do a runner again and maybe this time she would be able to escape, with her life of course.

She just needed to buy herself some more time, more time so that maybe Blappa and Nedus would leave her alone for a while and with just Yuna with her…It would be easy to escape and try to find a boat back to Zanarkand.

"Sinspawn. As Auron said. Something like that." Rikku scrunched her face up in deliberation. What else had he called them? Monsters? No. Beasts? Nope, not them either…

"Sinspawn!" Yuna's face lit up with horror for a moment, startling Rikku into silence, her thoughts vanishing quickly. "Where? Where'd you get them? Did you get rid of the Sinspawn?" Yuna was now talking gibberish, her words so fast that Rikku only managed to catch them.

"Well…" Rikku scratched her head, wondering if she should tell the truth about her fighting in Zanarkand because whenever she seemed to mention Zanarkand that Nedus guy seemed to go absolutely crazy.

"Heh-heh."

Rikku's head snapped up, her lower lip hung in a pout. "What's so funny now?" Maybe Yuna had finally realized who she was - seeming as she was the star of the Zanarkand Abes after all - and was just about to tell her she could go home now.

"Don't worry. Nedus won't hurt you anymore. He's ashamed of his actions." Yuna nudged Rikku gently in her ribs, making the younger girl wince. "Really, look at how sorry he is."

Rikku grimaced sourly up at the daunting-looking Nedus with unimpressed, unconvinced and suspicious narrowed eyes. To her, he didn't look very sorry at all how he was shaking his head at her and he was cracking his knuckles threateningly at her or maybe that was his own weird way of being sorry. Rikku didn't know, hell she had no idea what the guy was saying.

"Heh-heh…Yeah…" Rikku murmured underneath her breath, turning her attention back onto the patient Yuna who was smiling with good cheer at her as she turned her head from left to right.

"Now. How'd you get those scars?" Yuna pressured, her good cheer suddenly turning pungent now that she could see the scars on Rikku's back again.

"Sinspawn. Back where I came from." Rikku explained softly, letting her eyes gaze up at Nedus's masked face before flickering back down to Yuna's swirled eyes, her arms trembling a little at the memories that seemed to swarm in her head. "Zanarkand…Auron was trying to protect me."

A hitched breath put Rikku into a anxious state, her dainty fingers pressed hard into a fierce fist.

Yuna broke the tension though, laughing nervously whilst placing a hand on Rikku's right shoulder and shaking it roughly. "Hah! Did ya hit ya head or something back there Rikku?"

"Huh? My head? Well _you_ hit my head if that counts…" Rikku answered back honestly, tilting her head to the side in puzzlement at Yuna's question. "Why'd you ask me that?"

Yuna's laughter died all of a sudden, abruptly and with too much tautness for Rikku's liking.

"Zanarkand doesn't exist anymore. It was destroyed about what?" Yuna looked at Blappa for a second, a look of application for her expression before she continued with a thin smile. "A thousand years ago. All that's left now is ruins, nothing else but ruins. That and the temple of Zanarkand. But apart from that." Yuna shrugged. "Nothing left."

Rikku felt all her thoughts of escaping, all her thoughts of Auron, all her thoughts of Lance and what he was doing…She felt them all disperse into thin air and all that left was her thoughts circling around Zanarkand, the boring place she called her home, the place where she wanted to be right now, not on this boat, Zanarkand…Her home.

"Ruins? A thousand years ago!" Rikku bit her lower lip, eyes wide and muscles tense in disbelief of what she was hearing. "Nuh-uh! I was just in Zanarkand about an hour ago or something! You must be mistaking it for another place."

Yuna's stiff expression didn't change, in fact it stayed the absolute same. The sympathy, the confusion, the slight humour but most of all…The fear. However, all the emotions on Yuna's face just made Rikku wonder what there was to fear, what was there to be confused about? It all made simple sense. She was somewhere so far away that Yuna had mistaken Zanarkand as some sort of weird ruins that probably was surfaced around where she was or something. It was an easy mistake of course, Rikku didn't blame Yuna for making that mistake.

Zanarkand couldn't be in ruins…Especially not for a thousand years…She couldn't be thousands of years into the future, could she?

"I swear…I'm not kidding or anything." Yuna said morosely, shaking her head with genuine sadness, the cheerfulness that had been there before had been sucked out of her and it seemed that didn't like to be the bearer of bad news. "Zanarkand…It's been abandoned and destroyed for a thousand years…Nobody but summoner's go there anymore.

Rikku froze for a moment, her mind just processing the information that had just been given to her.

A _summoner_? Isn't that what that kid in Zanarkand was talking about? Summoners? But that didn't make any sense at all! How could she be a thousand years into the future and summoners were still around when her Zanarkand wasn't? What was going on here?

"Hey…Did you mention someone called Auron by the way?" Yuna's speech broke Rikku away from her thoughts, making her turn her head so that she was facing the curious brunette. "I'm not trying to break away from the subject at hand, but I'm sure you mentioned someone called Auron. Did you?"

Rikku shrugged grumpily, what was the point anyway of telling Yuna if she mentioned Auron or not? Auron was probably dead right now if she had been transported a thousand years into the future, but then again maybe Auron had too seeming as it was him who had got her sucked up by Sin.

"Yeah, Auron. That stupid meanie that got me into this mess." Rikku told Yuna, quirking a finely shaped eyebrow as she spoke. "And when I get my hands on him I'll- argh!" Rikku didn't have to explain what she was going to do to Auron when she found him. _If_ she found him.

"Well that's so great! Y'see Sir Auron-" Yuna started but was shocked into silence by Rikku collapsing in a heap, laughter making her body shake. "Hey! What's so funny?" Yuna dived onto the laughing heap, playfully bouncing her fists onto the shuddering body.

"AURON! A sir? You've got to be kidding me!" Rikku giggled, ignoring the fact that she was being pummelled to death. "How did THAT happen?"

Yuna pulled herself off the blonde, her arms crossed across her chest and her lower lip snared between her canines. "Hey! Don't be like that now. Sir Auron protected my father when he went against Sin. He was his guardian."

Rikku stopped laughing and her face fell at Yuna's words. "A guardian? Why did your dad need guarding by Auron?" Rikku scratched the nape of her head, as if using her actions to prove her confusion even more.

Yuna blinked and from the look of complete incredulity on her face, Rikku guessed she had said something wrong. "You haven't heard of High Summoner Braska before?"

Rikku shook her head sullenly. Sheesh, she must look so stupid to Yuna, she just knew that having two words like High and Summoner together meant that you were important. So important in fact that Auron somehow guarded High Summoner Braska how many years ago? It must have been before she was born obviously because she had lived with Auron her life apart from when she was a baby where she was cared by her adopted parents - who had abandoned her at nine years old when she had accidentally set their cat on fire.

"Wow. Where have you been the last ten years? My dad died defeating Sin y'know?" Yuna spoke with odd - yet not so odd - forced cheer. "Sir Auron, Sir Ject and even Cid were his guardians!"

Feeling her heart skip a few beats, Rikku gulped down hard to try and get rid of the lump in her throat. "My dad was a guardian? Along with Auron!" Rikku spread her arms wildly, flailing them about uncontrollably. "Auron and my dad knew each other?"

Yuna looked at the blonde with uncertainty, head tilted to the side and eyes narrowed warily. "Uh-yeah…"

Rikku's fist connected with the harsh metal floor. Her knuckles that had been wrapped in bandages - by Yuna most likely when she had found her at sea - were now unravelled and her knuckles had once again started bleeding profusely.

"Ugh! I'm gonna kill that old meanie! He lied to me!" Rikku continued bashing her fist against the metal, her lips turning down and her nose turned upright in the air to show an unambiguous display of sulking.

Yuna in turn ruffled the blonde girl's locks affectionately, chuckling slightly at the pouted lip and sulk. "Hey, come on now. I'm sure whatever Auron said he said for a good reason. Besides, you still haven't told me your name or your age…And…" Yuna quirked her own eyebrow, eyeing the blonde's clothing with distaste. "What you are to be exact."

"Rikku, nineteen and…" Rikku cut herself off, eyeing Nedus suspiciously whilst watching his hand movements. "I'm the left forward of the Zanarkand Abes." Nedus's right hand twitched towards his belt where most likely lay his knife yet before Rikku could jump on him to make sure he didn't go anywhere near the knife, the hand had stopped moving and had returned to its side.

Instantaneously after Rikku had felt the syllables leave her tongue and parted lips, she was engulfed in a bone-crunching hug by none other than Yuna - who was screeching with animation.

"Hey cousin!" Yuna was laughing now, her chest vibrating against Rikku's own at the laughter and joy coming from her torso. "You really are my cousin! Cousin Rikku!"

Rikku just let herself be hugged freely by the attacking Yuna, eyes wide and her arms stuck to her side like super glue…This couldn't be happening…She had only been wondering about her family about five hours ago and now she was letting herself get hugged by someone who claimed to be her cousin?

This couldn't be real…Yet it felt so warm and real that Rikku couldn't even begin to pronounce her words properly…This was Yuna. This was her and Yuna. Cousins…Funny. In Rikku's mind they acted very much like sisters…Personality-wise anyway.

"I just knew that you were Cid's daughter when I first saw you! You just look like Aunty Mai! And my Aunty Mai was a cutie!" Yuna gasped, finally letting go of the startled blonde and laughing at the expression of absolute admiration.

"What? Oh c'mon! You must have known all about us right? Brother? Cid? Mai? Nagi? Me? And what's that face for?" Yuna stopped her speech to look worriedly down at the unusually quiet girl, her face even softer than it had been before with her carefree smile.

Rikku scratched her chin, a tight but gentle smile appearing on her face as she looked up at her so-called cousin.

"Y'know…" The blonde looked up at Nedus and Blappa worryingly. "I didn't know anything about you guys. At all. Apart from Pops…But I didn't even know I had a cousin, a brother or even a mother y'know? And now you're here, saying that I'm related to you…"

Rikku felt her grin weaken slightly and shifted slightly so that her knees were just resting below her chin. "It's just kinda weird, y'know?" She explained to her cousin, moving her arms around as she spoke. "All this happening so quickly."

Yuna sat back also, her back resting against the knees of Nedus whilst her chin was also just skimming her own knees as she tilted her head to the side to stare enquiringly at her cousin. "Yeah…Guess you are right. Getting used to all this." The right corner of Yuna's lips twitched a little into a smile. "But surely you must have known you were an Al Bhed. I mean…C'mon. You've got the same coloured eyes as all of us. Apart from me of course. I'm half Al Bhed, half Spiran."

Rikku eyed her cousin cautiously, quirking her left eyebrow up with interest. "Half Spiran? Half Al Bhed? What are those?"

Yuna actually didn't look surprised that Rikku didn't know what they were, she didn't't even laugh or frown at Rikku either. She just shrugged nonchalantly as if it was usual for people to get mixed up with one of many races.

"Well…I'm going to tell you the stereotype kinda way, okay?" Yuna explained gently to her Rikku, sighing softly as a look of anger appeared on her face which led to Rikku being startled into silence. The look of fury on Yuna's face didn't match the brunette well.

"The damn _Yevonites_ way." Yuna spat out in disgust, shaking her head before looking up at Nedus who was staring down at her, whispering something underneath his breath.

Whatever it was, Yuna laughed bitterly whilst shaking her head in incredulity and humour…Obviously Nedus had said something about those 'damn Yevonites' who Yuna had spoken so indignantly of.

"Al Bhed's are…" Yuna paused, her features softening from the hardened rock they had been before. "The people who have don't obey Yevon's teachings or whatever. The people who are working on their own way to conquer Sin without the need of the Final Summoning…The people who are looked down upon basically." Yuna blew a raspberry at the last of her sentence, making Rikku's lips twitch into a familiar smile. "That's why you don't speak Al Bhed to Yevonites, they'll probably gut you or something crazy like that."

Rikku had to object, not in defence of the Yevonites - whatever or whoever they were - but because now she was confused.

"Wait, wait, wait. I know you said that the Yevonites don't like the Al Bhed because they-"

"_We." _Yuna emphasised with a huff.

"_We_ don't follow Yevon's rule or whatever. But wouldn't they recognize us anyway because of the colour of eyes?" Rikku said, her head tilted to one side and her arms were flailing in every direction.

Clicking her tongue and winking at the same time, Yuna pointed her index finger at the blonde while sticking her thumb up in the 'good luck' sign. "You got it! But that isn't how they recognize us sometimes y'know? We Al Bhed's wear goggles." With that, the brunette pointed at a pair of sleek black goggles that was hanging around her neck. "See? That's how they recognize us."

Rikku scratched her knuckle that hadn't been bleeding with mystified anxiety, wondering if she should voice her opinion on the Al Bhed's being noticed because of them wearing goggles all the time.

"It's alright. I know what ya thinking anyway." Yuna cut in, folding her arms and resting her head on her folded arms. "Everyone knows we're Al Bhed because of the goggles right? So why don't we take them off? Right?"

Rikku nodded without any hesitation. "Duh. Wouldn't it help us Al Bhed a lot? I mean now that I know almost every Al Bhed wears goggles, I won't go around wearing them y'know what I'm saying?"

With a carefree laugh, Yuna sat up straight. "Yeah, but I only wear these goggles because I need them to see underwater properly. I'm not a blitz ball player y'know?" Yuna's eyes moved to the Zanarkand armguard on Rikku's arm. "Unlike you. You've got your team armguard on."

Rikku looked at her armguard thoughtlessly, wondering why she even kept the stupid thing with her in the first place apart from going to her blitz ball games and even then it was hardly needed.

"Weird…" Yuna murmured, her hot breath tickling Rikku's ear as the brunette examined the yellow and blue armguard with fascination. "It says the Zanarkand Abes…But that can't be. Zanarkand was destroyed…"

"A whooping one thousand years ago too." Rikku rolled her eyes sarcastically at her own remark. Why was Yuna interested now? She hadn't even thought of believing Rikku before, why now? "Bummer isn't it?"

"Bummer." Yuna agreed, ignoring her cousin's sarcasm to poke the armguard covering her arm to test the material and the toughness of the fabric. "It doesn't feel like its old…It feels brand new actually…"

Rikku looked down at her brunette cousin, letting a soundless sigh escape her chapped lips. "That's because it is new. I only brought it about five days ago back in Zanarkand."

"Impossible." Yuna whispered, shaking her head and looking up at Nedus and Blappa with tangled emotions swimming in her orbs. "But…I believe you somehow. Somehow you've got to be from Zanarkand."

Rikku nodded energetically, clapping her hands in enthusiasm. "Now you believe me! Awesome!"

Yuna shook her head, an unhappy grimace making her lips look twisted and unpleasant. "Either that, or you've been got by Sin's toxin."

Rikku stopped at that, re-winded her thoughts back to where she had been animated that Yuna believed her and then stopped again…

"Say what? Sin's toxin? What's that?" Rikku asked, folding her arms and letting her legs kick out so that she was at least _moving_ - to use her movement as a distraction was a blessing Rikku had found out in earlier years.

"I'll tell you in a minute. Just tell me if you know what any of these mean. Okay?" Yuna motioned to Blappa and Nedus, her eyes dubious. "Luca and Bevelle."

Rikku nodded, eyebrows furrowed in agitation. "Course I know what means. Duh."

Yuna snapped her head around, eyes wide in surprise mixed with anticipation. "You know what they are?"

"Uh huh." Rikku nodded, feeling her own smile come onto her expression. "They're shops in Zanarkand y'know? Luca's Machina Shop and St Bevelle is a good place to go shopping for these cute outfits-"

"Sheesh…You have been gotten by Sin's toxin." Yuna yawned, scratching the nape of her neck and shaking her head in frustration. "Luca? A machina shop? Sure we've got some of them around but sheesh…"

Rikku threw herself back against the concrete behind her in a huff, lower lip hung out like an adorable little puppy. "Alright, alright already! I'm not even from here. How am I supposed to know what Luca and Bevelle are? Gee."

Yuna shook her head, glancing up at Nedus and muttering something sharp in her language.

"Cra ec lmiamacc. Pid cra'c y pmedwpymm bmyoan ech'd cra? Fryd cruimt fa tu Nedus?" Yuna asked the masked Nedus, tilting her head to one side with an unsure grim smile on her appearance.

"Y pmedwpymm bmyoan? Fa cruimt dyga ran du Luca. Cra sekrd ghuf cusauha drana." Nedus shrugged indifferently, glancing at Rikku with masked apprehension of the blonde's actions. "Pid cra'c hud kuehk yhofrana ihdem cusa uv ic nabund du Cid. Fa haat rec bansecceuh du muug yd dra niehc suna lmucamo. Yht ajah drah...E tuh'd dnicd ran. Cra cyet cra fyc vnus Zanarkand."

Yuna quirked an eyebrow at the blue and yellow jacket Nedus, chuckling a little at his words. "Cra'c paah kud po Sin'c duqeh E drehg...E's hud cina. Pid cra ech'd lnywo. Fa cruimt dnicd ran."

Nedus laughed heartily at that, nudging his companion - the stone-faced Blappa - right into the ribs before pointing directly at Yuna's fuming grimace. "Tet oui rayn dryd Blappa? Dnicd ran? Oui sicd pa syt!"

"E's hud syt! E drehg fa cruimt dnicd ran!" Yuna roared back, pushing herself off Nedus's knees to whirl around to look at her companion. "Cra'c Cid'c tyikrdan o'ghuf? Cinamo oui lyh caa dra Zanarkand ynskiynt?"

Nedus grunted, glancing at Rikku's Zanarkand Abes armguard for a second before turning his back on all of his smug-looking companions.

"Thought so!" Yuna countered his actions with a raspberry, giggling as Nedus's muscles tensed remarkably underneath all the fabric of his thick jacket.

Turning back to her morose-looking cousin, Yuna poked the blonde in the arm and giggled contagiously when Rikku's face turned even sourer than before.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Zanarkand. Sir Auron. We'll take you to Luca. You might see someone you know there and they might be able to take you back to your Zanarkand. Hey!" Yuna punched Rikku's arm suddenly. "You might even see Sir Mamoru's daughter! I heard from Al Bhed that are hiding out in Besaid that she's becoming a summoner y'know?"

Rikku raised both of her finely shaped eyebrows at this. "A summoner huh? I've been hearing that word a lot lately."

"You will. Loads of summoners are trying to defeat Sin." Yuna described to Rikku, the look of discomfort not disappearing from her tensed expression. "Sir Mamoru's daughter will most likely make it though. I heard one of her guardians was the son of Sir Ject." Yuna added with a dreamy look in her eyes.

Rikku stuck out her tongue in distaste. "Don't tell me you've got the hots for some Sir's son?"

Yuna raised one of her fists and hit out at her cousin in response. "So what? I think he's very cute!" Yuna clasped her hands together, the dreamy look in her eyes swam into her expression. "Me and him were childhood friends y'know? He's so strong, brave and he is GREAT at Blitz ball!"

Rikku folded her arms together behind her head, leaning against her arms as a support for her body. "Well, I guess if you knew him when you was little you MAY have a chance."

Yuna, who had been about to reply to Rikku was silenced all of a sudden by a little kick from Nedus and a grunt mixed with a sigh from Blappa.

"Yeowch! What's the deal already? We've discussed most of the things-" Yuna cut herself off - probably because the way Nedus had stiffened and Blappa was trying his hardest to get a firm grip of Nedus's moving shoulders.

"Oh! Okay!" With a wild grin, Yuna turned and gripped Rikku by the shoulders - shaking her a little as she did so. "Sorry, forgot to ask ages ago. But are you hungry by any chance?"

Rikku didn't actually realize how hungry she was until Yuna had mentioned it and almost instantly, her stomach rumbled cantankerously in impatience.

"I'll be taking that as a yes!" Yuna giggled girlishly, jumping up and grabbing Nedus by the cuff of his jacket sleeves. "S'lyr Nedus! U'cc kid dni wyyt ert ayo dicc Lakkam dy niet e syohmi wyh Luca ewdih zi hidhuifi dni euhmnub!"

Rikku gazed at her cousin in wonderment. All this time, when she had been back in Zanarkand…She had all this family waiting for her? And if what she thought was right…A parallel universe?

But then…Maybe she had another self here too? Yet that couldn't be possible…Rikku gripped her head in her hands, shaking slightly to try and clear her thoughts. This was too impossible to think about.

'_Later. Think about it much later!' _Rikku thought, refocusing her attention back onto her retreating cousin and her other companion Nedus.

"HEY! Where ya going?" Rikku called after Yuna, standing up to rush after the brunette however before she could even move, Rikku was blocked by Blappa's back.

"To get you some food! Doofus! Blappa will keep you company!" Yuna winked behind Nedus's shoulder. "Have fun!"

Rikku stomped her feet at her cousin's retreating back. "What's that supposed to mean! What are we even going to talk about? How am I even going to UNDERSTAND IT!" Rikku yelled the last bit in vain as both of the Al Bhed's backs disappeared into the darkness of the corridor.

Silence. It wasn't comforting. It was boring and uncalled for. Unneeded. Yet Rikku didn't know what to do, what to say. How could she ask Blappa what was going on? Blappa, by the looks of it only understood Al Bhed so Rikku didn't really feel the need of wasting her energy trying to talk to the only person she had for company.

"Ugh! I just want to go talk to my dad!" Rikku turned crossly, kicking the light orb that had been behind her down. "But by the looks of it, he isn't here which leaves me with no option but to go to Luca, try and find Auron and if that doesn't work I'll just go with the Al Bhed to find Pops."

"But what that kid said back in Zanarkand about a summoner…He didn't mention Sir Mamoru's daughter but still…Maybe if I see her in Luca then I could…Wait what am I talking about? That kid told me (in his own weird way) to stay away from her, yet…Oh no! What am I going to do?" Rikku whined, using the metal of the wall as a 'hit-your-head-100 times-and-get-a-free-blitz ball' thingie.

A cough startled the blonde, making Rikku fall back to land directly on her back, legs sticking up in the air.

Blappa was looking down at her, a strained look on his face.

"Uh? Hi?" Rikku smiled sweetly, now using the metal wall that had been her head banging post as a foot rest. "What's up Blappa?"

'_Now that I think about it. That Blappa dude looks constipated with that awkward look on his face.' _Rikku stopped a moment to re-think her thought. '_Ew! Never mind!'_

Blappa cleared his throat once more, his mouth forming words but not one syllable left his lips and by that time, Rikku had realized the problem.

"Uh. Is there something you want to tell me?" Rikku really had no idea how she was supposed to help Blappa seeming as she had no idea what Blappa wanted to say to her.

Blappa nodded fiercely, his fists clenched together and his mouth moving rapidly.

Rikku arched a slender blonde brow, feeling a weird sense of euphoria start to pump in her veins. "Oh I get what you're trying to do! Charades right?"

Rikku jumped up and swiftly turned around to face Blappa, a bright and energetic grin on her features. "Right! Try mouthing what you're going to say and start doing hand movements. Y'know what I'm sayin' right?"

Blappa shook his head in disagreement.

Rikku frowned in response. "Right…No use doing Charades…Guess I'll just have to wait until y'know what you're saying…"

* * *

_Ten minutes later;_

"So…You almost there yet?" Rikku asked Blappa for the fifty-millionth time, her eyes shutting wearily. How long had stupid Yuna and Nedus been gone? She had no idea what was going right now because they were taking so long, which was driving her completely INSANE!

Blappa gripped his head and growled in frustration. He'd been trying to talk to Rikku for about ten minutes and he had no success whatsoever thanks to him not being able to hardly understand a word of English.

"Cid? Yuna? Al Bhed? Summoner? GIVE ME A HINT ALREADY!" Rikku moaned in desperation, regaining her position of head banging the metal wall with the back of her head.

"E's dnoehk! Ed'c rynt du dymg du Spiran!" Blappa yelled, still gripping his head in frustration.

"Y'see! That's what's getting me! I. Don't. Know. What. The. Hell. You're. Saying!" Rikku complained, slumping her shoulders in defeat.

"…-C-cid!" Blappa finally spluttered, gripping Rikku's shoulders tightly in his bony hands. "…-A-a-always…-t-talked…" He stopped for a moment, his tongue flailing everywhere along with his arms. "A-about…h-his little…d-daughter! R-r-Rikku!"

Rikku blinked, her mouth suddenly feeling very dry at Blappa's words.

"Pops? He always talked about me?" Somehow, Rikku found herself crying slightly at Blappa's truthful words, her hands moving to his shoulders to grip the man tightly. "REALLY? Tell me more!"

Blappa spluttered uncomfortably, re-focusing his mind on what he was going to say before making the grip on Rikku's shoulders tighter.

"…C-cid a-always…" Blappa was almost in tears, the aggravation getting too much for him to handle. "A-always…-s-said! That his…l-little g-girl w-was…g-going…t-t-to…come back!"

Rikku felt the grip on her shoulders soften slightly as if Blappa was finally realizing that she knew what he was saying and was relieved that he wouldn't have to repeat it again.

"H-he…" Blappa let go of Rikku's shoulders, turning her back onto the young, mystified Al Bhed girl. "O-only told me, Yuna and Rin…a-about y-you. He…n-never told a-anyone else."

"What about Nedus?" Rikku found herself asking Blappa instantly. That was weird, if she thought about it. Her Pops had told so many people she had died - for a reason she didn't know of - yet he still trusted enough people to tell the truth about her living. "Why did Pops lie? Why didn't he tell everyone?"

Blappa shook his head glumly, glad that he wasn't facing the girl. He wouldn't be able to stop the shameful red patches that would most certainly appear on his cheeks and arms and to be honest, he didn't want to stop it. He deserved it after all.

"Hard…T-to explain…" Blappa murmured over his shoulder, refocusing his goggles by wiping the sweat off the screens of the goggles. "C-cid didn't want…t-to tell anyone a-about it…Y-yuna could explain more but…" Blappa shook his head once again. "I d-doubt…S-s-she'll tell…you…a-a-anything. A-and…If she…d-did I'd…suggest…t-the subject subtly…"

Rikku felt herself fall against the metal wall - her rest and the only thing keeping her up so that she wouldn't fall - and took a deep unsteady breath, feeling her heart beat start to pick up wildly and sweat starting to develop in the crook of her neck.

"I'd have to find my Pops huh?" Rikku asked nobody, her eyes wide and glistening from unshed tears. She hadn't been the person to cry before but now that she knew that her Pops had lied about her…She felt unsurprisingly empty towards the heart-wrenching news.

Twirling around, Rikku raised her bandaged fist up and punched the metal barrier furiously in what people could describe as a heated sense of vehemence and irritated passion.

"That sucks so badly! All this time I thought my Pops had somehow got taken away from me and was going to come and fetch me one day…But all this time-!" Rikku whirled back around, her head low so that she was looking down at her feet. "All this time he was lying about my existence to most of the Al Bhed! Ugh!" Rikku kicked thin air, gnashing her teeth together.

"And I can't believe…I just can't believe that he didn't even try to come and get me! After all these years of wondering…I mean c'mon!" Rikku yelled, lifting her arms up in the air, her delicate digits clenched into fists.

Rikku put both fists over her head, lowering herself down until her knees were just skimming the ground and her head in between her legs in an attempt to drown out all her thoughts that had been rushing so rapidly through her head.

"T-that's bullshit! Pops wouldn't just quit! T-that's not my dad y'know!" Rikku lifted her head up, an angry glower on her features. "I don't even know him properly but he wouldn't of done that! That's not my Pops y'know Blappa? That's not him!"

Blappa glanced down at the blonde Al Bhed with soft eyes, wondering if he should try to comfort the grieving Al Bhed or maybe he should just try and leave her alone, he had done enough already to make the poor girl grieve.

"C-cid…H-he always…thought you'd find…your…o-own way." Blappa explained lightly, wondering if he was actually using the right words to explain Cid's pathetic actions - in his thoughts anyway.

"That doesn't give him any reason to stop trying! All the time…I was looking for him and he thought that I'd make my own way!" Rikku stomped her foot, eyes blazing with indestructible ferocity. So much in fact that Blappa felt something warm up his cheeks and the part of his arms that was exposed, making the Al Bhed man blush slightly. "What a jerk! I can't wait until I find him!" Rikku finished with an iniquity glare swimming over her face.

Blappa didn't know what to make of the situation now. First moment Rikku had sworn that she when she was going to meet her Pops she was most likely going to engage in a very long conversation then the next moment Rikku had sworn she was going to rip Cid's throat out.

"I-I…d-do not understand." Blappa muttered uncertainly under his breath, shuffling around on his feet.

Rikku nodded her head in agreement. "Me neither…All I know is that I'm going to kill my Pops once I get my scrawny little hands on him!" Rikku spoke the last part of her sentence as a deadly whisper, silencing Blappa from his spluttering straight away.

* * *

"We're back!" Yuna announced, giggling uncontrollably whilst nudging Nedus roughly in the ribs until she noticed that a silence had passed over them all.

"Don't sound too excited." Yuna grumbled, crossing her arms across her chest. "You might hurt yourself or something y'know?"

Blappa let out a shaky breath, shaking his head violently at the perky young brunette who compared to the spaced out blonde seemed to be in a very good mood. Though he had a feeling that she wouldn't be if Rikku…Subtly tried to bring the subject up about Cid.

"Yuna...E fuimth'd...Cra ghufc ypuid Cid." Blappa told the brunette bitterly, glad that his goggles hid most of his facial expression. "Yht cra ech'd jano rybbo ypuid ed…"

Yuna just took one glance at the dazed-looking Rikku and sighed haughtily. "Vun Crejy'c cyga Blappa, luimth'd oui gaab ouin suidr crid ypuid dryd?"

Blappa scowled angrily. "Cra haatat du ghuf dryd Cid fych'd kuehk du lusa veht ran. Ed fyc uhmo vyen." Blappa raised a fist, shaking it in the now sniggering Nedus's direction. "Oui fuimt uv fyhdat du ghuf dra cysa drehk ev oui ryt hajan ghufh Braska."

Yuna shook her head, her lip pouted out in a wicked grimace. "Dryd ech'd dra buehd…Cra ech'd ajah vnus rana, oui cruimth'd ryja dumt ran yhodrehk ypuid Cid! Acbaleymmo dryd ra fych'd muugehk vun ran!"

Yuna was about to carry on with her rant about Blappa telling Rikku about Cid yet was stopped by Nedus laughing so hard that he was making the tray of food in his hands quiver summarily.

"Oui vuum Blappa! Drec kenm ec celg po paehk po Sin'c duqeh! Tu oui naymmo drehg dryd cra haatc yhosuna ramb paehk saccat ib po oui?" Nedus laughed out loud, leaning back a little to try and shake out his laughter.

Blappa shook his head, placing both of his hands on his face and turning around to face the tools so that he wouldn't have to look at the masked - yet so noticeable - smug look on Nedus's face.

Nedus turned towards the sullen-looking Yuna who by now was glancing between Rikku and Blappa with a disappointed look on her features.

"Yht yc vun oui, oui'na y lusbmada eteud. Oui lyh'd bnudald ran vnus ajanodrehk. Cid fych'd dnoehk du veht ran yht oui ghuf ed." Nedus told the brunette callously, shaking his head with amusement.

Yuna turned her back on the masked man in a huff, facing the now provoked-looking Rikku - who by the looks of it was staring irritably up at Nedus with exasperation (most likely caused by the fact that she had no idea what they were talking about).

"Ra uhmo tet dryd palyica ra fyhdat du bnudald ran. Ra zicd teth'd damm yhouha ypuid frana dra ramm Rikku fyc." Yuna snapped back at Nedus over her shoulder, turning back towards Rikku with loving eyes. "Cra'c so luiceh druikr, E tuh'd lyna ev oui drehg cra fyc po Sin'c duqeh. E tuh'd ajah lyna ev cra'c emm. E muja ran, cra'c so luiceh yht E's hud kuehk du mad ran vymm uid uv uin naylr ykyeh. Ajah ev Cid tuach'd ybbnuja uv ic pnehkehk ran du res."

At that moment, Nedus immediately shut up as if someone had pressed the pause button on him.

With a grumble, he kicked the enraged Rikku lightly on her knee, pressed the food tray down and stalked off back into the corridor where he and Yuna had just come from.

Few moments passed, Rikku staring at her food, Yuna staring indignantly at Blappa's back, Blappa staring at the tools which wasn't really very interesting…All together a very long second had passed.

"Pft." Rikku broke the silence, trying to contain her laughter and failing tremendously when the rest of the Al Bhed crew turned to look at her. "Heh-heh! Sheesh! That was so weird! I can't believe he just left! What did you say to him?" Rikku snapped her fingers and made a face. "He got burned! Heh!" Rikku laughed, grabbing the soles of her shoes and lifting her feet up in the air.

Blappa blinked. Shocked was an understatement. He turned to Yuna, his Al Bhed language moving fluidly through his parted lips.

"E's crulgat. Ryc cra naymmo kud cilr y crund yddahdeuh cbyh un tuac dryd nih eh dra vysemo?"

Yuna shook her head, grabbing two tufts of her hair on either side of her head and groaning. "I can see why we're related…Cid acted just like you when he was young-" Blappa nudged the blonde and muttered something underneath his breath. "I mean young_er_. Sorry." Yuna corrected, giving a sideways crooked smile towards Blappa's direction before returning back to her cousin.

"Sheesh, he was always saying 'yeehaw' or something weird like that." Yuna mused, a smile coming to her face. "He was such a good uncle. You'll love him when you meet him!"

Rikku's face dropped. "I'm going to kill him. The jerk. And you're a jerk too Yunie for lyin' to me." Rikku's exuberance had disappeared and in replacement was absolute zealous antagonism. "The only one who didn't lie was Blappa, and I can hardly understand a word he's saying too." Rikku finished, yanking her gaze towards Blappa before staring at Yuna again.

"He didn't come looking for you because he knew that you'd find your own way." Yuna said bluntly. If Rikku wanted her to say what had happened straight and ingenuous to her face, then she would without hesitation. "You should just get used to it Rik, Uncle Cid's always been like that."

"That isn't the point!" Rikku huffed crossly, staring coldly at the dark corridor that was behind her. "I always used to look for him, wherever I went…I just can't believe he didn't look for me at all…"

Yuna's gaze softened at the look of betrayal and disbelief that was painted on Rikku's expression and before the brunette knew what she was doing, she was kneeling down and hugging her cousin around the shoulders.

"I know that it's hard…" Yuna whispered gently into Rikku's ear, glad that she had this private time with Rikku right now. "But you've just gotta get used to it y'know? He does love you Rik, he just doesn't know how to show it. So be prepared when you first meet him."

Rikku shrugged. "I don't think I care anymore to be honest…My dad sounds like a big idiot if you ask me."

"Hey!" Yuna punched her cousin's shoulder hard. "Don't say that! Cid helped the Al Bhed get back together, he's the reason why the Al Bhed are still alive! So don't say such stupid things like that! Okay?"

Rikku blinked feebly, feeling that she and Auron had just had another battle apart from that instead of her normally winning, Auron had flattened her. It wasn't a nice feeling at all.

"Look. I'm sorry, you don't know my Uncle Cid and that sucks because you're his daughter y'know? But you WILL get to know him. I promise." Yuna reassured her blonde cousin, already feeling the guilt starting to eat her stomach up.

Rikku turned slightly, feeling her stomach twist and turn in remorse of what she had just said and thought about her father - that and she was still pretty much sea sick (she had no idea how she managed to keep her food down).

"Hey." Yuna said soothingly, pressing her chin on Rikku's bare shoulder and smiling sweetly. "I can help you get prepared y'know before you meet Cid. I'm sure he won't want to see that you're all exposed." Yuna laughed heartily at that, looking at Rikku's almost fully exposed form with a look of disgust mixed with curiosity.

Rikku blushed, covering her stomach and collarbone up with both of her hands to try and shy herself away from the burning orbs that was Yuna's different-coloured eyes.

"It's only because I was just going to the Zanarkand blitz ball stadium so I couldn't get transformed into my Zanarkand Abes uniform properly!" Rikku replied back indignantly, still feeling the hot lava like feel of her cheeks even when she covered them up with the red fabric of her scarf.

Yuna poked out her tongue. "Yeah right. I'm not saying anything horrible against your clothing, but you are going to get COLD if you ever go to Mt Gazaget. So you might as well have my white leather fighting Targe." Yuna said with a strange uneasy laugh, glancing up at Rikku's arms.

Rikku peeked at her long, white sleeved arms with a look of uncertainty. "I'm not THAT exposed y'know? I've got these long butt sleeves on so it's no biggie right?"

Yuna sighed, shaking her head. "It's up to you if you want to be cold, just don't blame me if you turn into an icicle."

Rikku didn't answer at first. Her mind was still running through the questions she so desperately wanted to ask. Questions. Questions. Questions…So many and yet so little time to find out the answers.

_If I'm in a parallel universe then why isn't there another one of me? Or something weird that resembles me. This is just so crazy. But…Maybe these people resemble me? I don't know how but…None of this is making any bloody sense!_

"Hey, why don't you borrow some of these Al Bhed primers?" Yuna spoke up all of a sudden, knocking Rikku out of her concentration almost instantly to see that her cousin was shoving some strange looking books under her nose. "Seeming as you don't come from this world, you might as well use these." At Rikku's questioning look, Yuna giggled.

"They teach you how to speak Al Bhed." Yuna spoke contentedly, flicking her brunette locks back so that the strands was out of her eyes. She dropped the Al Bhed primers in her cousin's lap, grinning slightly at the look of incredulity that swam across Rikku's face. "It's our language so you should learn how to spell it."

Yuna was about to go on - mainly to try and help her cousin - but was stopped by a slight cough that came from behind her.

"Yuna, ran vuut ec kuehk lumt. Cra'c kuehk du haat ed ev cra'c du ramb ic kad dra yencreb…" Blappa spoke almost inaudibly, his arms crossed securely around his muscular chest.

Yuna blinked at Blappa in surprise, letting the words that Blappa had spoken slowly sink in before smirking widely at the quiet man. "Nekrd!"

Standing up quickly, Yuna scratched the back of her neck awkwardly, wondering if she should go and talk to Lakkam about what was going on and if Rikku was even ALLOWED to help them retrieve the airship.

"Hey, aren't you going to eat anything?" Yuna smiled wryly, glad that she had at least one excuse to try and change the subject with. "It isn't poison y'know? Nedus made it."

Rikku snorted, flapping her arms around like a bird caught on fire . "Then it's poison."

Yuna rolled her different coloured eyes in response. "C'mon Rik, eat already. You're going to be so hungry after working."

Rikku - who had at the time had just about to sip her glass of water - plonked the glass down (spraying water everywhere) and started to cough rapidly so that it looked like she was in fact having a hiccup fit.

"Holy Shiva Rik!" Yuna gasped, grabbing her left fist with her right hand, swinging them back before pushing her fists forward to connect with Rikku's back. "BREATHE RIK! Breathe!"

Heaving, Rikku took in a deep breath and let it out so that she could see the icy, cold air that had appeared from her parted lips after she had breathed out. Choking on thin air was NOT a good idea.

"Ya breathing Rik!" Yuna shook Rikku fiercely, almost knocking the blonde into her food face first.

Rikku nodded, spluttering a little at how her throat seemed to tickle all of a sudden as if she was about to cough again.

"Eesh, give me a heart attack why dontcha?" Yuna glowered at her cousin before letting her eyes dart towards the silver tray in front of Rikku. "Hm, I'm going to talk to Nedus about that later."

"T-told ya it was poison!" Rikku retorted, thumping the front of her chest to try and get rid of the irritating tickle that was driving her insane. "Told ya!"

Slumping down next to the blonde, Yuna tilted her head to the side - pleased that Rikku was now eating (even if she was acting as though there was a grenade in it any second) and wasn't complaining anymore.

"So hey Rikku…"

Rikku glanced up, still munching her way through half a chocobo wing (not that Yuna was going to tell her that) whilst licking at the tangled piece of meats that was left.

"Tell me about Zanarkand. Tell me about everything you know. Tell me how the hell you managed to almost drown just above Baaj Temple."

* * *

"Well I dunno about you guys. But I am EXHAUSTED." Tidus yawned, leaning against the Ronso behind him and snoring playfully.

Lulu smirked slightly before rolling her eyes at the blonde man behind her. "We've only gone through the Cloister of Trials and you're still dead beat?"

Tidus only nodded in reply, his strained smile making the Black Mage's stomach twist and turn violently in guilt.

But if Tidus didn't like the idea of her becoming a summoner, she was dreading what Wakka thought.

"Lulu." Kimahri spoke deeply, motioning towards the slab that blocked them from the Fayth, the path that only Lulu could walk to become a summoner.

Lulu nodded, feeling a feeble smile start to swim across her face. "Wish me good luck."

Tidus smiled at her encouragingly. Kimahri just crossed his arms against his furry, blue chest and nodded.

"Hopefully Wakka will be here when you get back Lu." Tidus spoke all of a sudden, lifting his hand up the air, clenching it into a fist before bringing it back down by his side. "He's just got a busy schedule with the Aurochs."

Waving her hand in dismissal - Lulu didn't need to know what Wakka was doing, she was a bit angry that everyone thought she did - Lulu laughed resentfully at the blonde guardian's words. "And yet, you are still here Tidus."

Gulping, Tidus eyed Kimahri, pleading for the Ronso's help to try and get him out of the situation he had dug himself into.

Chuckling cynically, Lulu shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "Let's go. I'll see you all as soon as I can."

Murmurs answered her though even if they were almost silent, Lulu could tell they were cheering - even if it hurt them to do so.

The slab lifted instantly as her left foot touched the stone steps, making an agonizing crushing sound as it went which did nothing but make the Black Mage wish she had brought some earplugs.

Stepping forward, Lulu found herself into a very, very long corridor which only held one stone slab as a door which would surely lead Lulu to the Fayth. The Aeon. Her very own guardian which she could rely on in her time of need when her other guardians weren't there.

Glancing behind her, Lulu was just about to tell her guardians that if she didn't come out in a weeks time it was their duty to leave the Temple and report her lost with the Fayth however before she could, the slab slammed down behind her.

Obviously it was too late to tell her guardians that. Obviously she was now on her own in here and to be honest…

Lulu turned, starting to stride forwards towards the other stone slab that was at the far end of the corridor.

She liked it that way. If the Fayth was on her side, then maybe she'd be out of the Temple in just a matter of hours instead of days (though it was only if she was lucky).

The yellow shine printed on the walls glowed brightly against the Black Mage's ashen face whilst the female singing voice echoed sacredly against the walls of the corridors so loudly that Lulu could feel the vibration beneath both of her feet.

This place was so amazing that a shiver went down Lulu's spine, her eyes having a interested longing to them that could only be described as admiration for this magnificent Temple that held so many warm memories…Even when she was child and had been brought up by her Mentor Elhal, she had never been allowed to be permitted to go past the Cloister of Trials at all and when she had once tried to go in with Wakka, Chappu and Tidus…They had all suffered the consequences of being unable to play blitz ball for a two months - which hadn't bothered her that much seeming as she wasn't very good at blitz ball anyway.

Of course she had heard the singing but not this close, not this close at all in fact she had been surprised to figure out a woman had been singing the song seeming as all along she had been so sure a male was the Fayth inside of Besaid Temple and Elhal had never told her anything apart from how to use Black Magick and even then Elhal hardly explained how to use the Black Magick. Lulu had to learn it all by herself and even now…She was no Master of Black Magick.

Though she couldn't blame Elhal for not being a Master at what her Mentor had been, Elhal had been an old Black Mage and when she (Lulu) had been given to Elhal as an apprentice at nine Elhal had been nearing her death.

And even now Elhal was still teaching her - even in death and beyond - helping her make choices, just like Chappu but…

Clenching her digits together tightly, Lulu let out a breath that she had no idea she'd been holding.

Nevertheless with Chappu…It hurt a lot more to think about him yet it was also the thing that drove her on, that drove her to become a summoner, that drove her to protect her first and last summoner until the death and now that she thought about it.

She felt sort of cruel of putting Tidus and Wakka through the same thing again but if this was what it was needed to get rid of Sin, she'd take it without a second thought or doubt in her mind.

It was what Chappu would have wanted…What she wanted as well and who was she to deny both of hers and Chappu's mutual feelings?

She'd destroy Sin and when she did, Chappu would be right beside her with his big cheery grin…The grin that should have faded away years ago yet still remained to haunt her or remind her that she was indeed alone in this world. That a part of her was missing and nothing could ever fill that hole up until she had finally defeated Sin, nothing at all…

Mauve lips tightened into a firm scowl of abhorrence.

No matter how much Wakka wanted too.

* * *

"-and then Auron lifted me up and said 'this is your story' and next thing I know poof! I'm here!" Rikku explained with wide eyes, making the poof sound effect with her mouth and hands while trying in vain to shovel her food down her mouth as fast as she could. "Irt wus RALLY, RALLY werd y'knuw?"

Yuna arched a sceptical brown eyebrow, pushing the water forward with her right foot so that it rested just below Rikku's left knee. "You really shouldn't talk with your mouth full. You're going to start choking again."

Rikku sighed, gulping down her last bit of food before shaking her head wildly. "Weren't you listening to anything I was saying?"

Reaching over to grab her own glass of water, Yuna sipped thinly at her water before placing it back down and folding her arms together. "I did, but I'm just trying to figure out what could of happened to bring you here…"

Taking a bite of her sandwich - which Yuna had refused to tell her what it was and against her better judgement she was so hungry and confused that she had eaten it straight away without a second thought after questioning Yuna about it - Rikku rubbed her head with her knuckles and thought carefully about it herself…It seemed pretty simple (the answer) but she wasn't so sure…The answer was too easy so it couldn't be…

"Sin?" Rikku tilted her head back, sighing quietly at the thought of her idea. It was too stupid. It couldn't be Sin…She didn't even remember what happened, just that both she and Auron was sucked in and engulfed by this strange light and that she woke up in Yuna's arms.

"Why'd you say that?" The brunette woman asked her cousin casually, swinging her knees coolly as if she was trying to hide the tension that was starting to appear in her voice.

Shrugging, Rikku turned so that she was looking out at the black sea. "I dunno. I just feel different than I did back in Zanarkand. It's as if Sin's brought me here for some strange reason. Auron kept telling me Sin wouldn't wait but at that point I never truly understood what he was talking about…"

"Maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong…" Yuna shifted uncomfortably, a slight blush coming to her cheeks. "But you don't wanna go back right? To Zanarkand? You wanna stay here with the rest of us?"

Rikku didn't answer. She had no idea what she should say to her cousin. Part of her wanted to stay here however another stronger part overruled the nonsense that was taunting her away from the road she was sure to walk on and told her to try and find her way back to Zanarkand.

She blew out a shaky breath, making a 'brrp' sound with her lips. Well, she had gotten what she wanted. She had wanted something more, better than Zanarkand, something she could try her hardest to adapt to.

Now all she wanted was to go back, lie down in her bed and cuddle up with all her little toys until she was sure that the whole ideal that was happening right now was just some crazy dream.

"_Right?_!" Yuna's voice penetrated her skull, knocking Rikku off and away from her uncontrolled thoughts.

"I don't know anymore." Rikku breathed out erratically, crossing her arms around her hunched up knees.

Yuna sighed drearily, obviously not wanting to hear that answer. "I see…" Another sigh and a slight sniff. "I guess I can't change you're mind huh?"

With a pouted lip and a furrowed brow, Rikku turned towards her cousin to give her a look of disbelief. "I can't believe you're doing the puppy act to try and make me to stay here. Besides!" Rikku added with a slight twitch of her lips. "I don't know what I'm going to do next."

Chuckling, Yuna patted her younger cousin on the back with a wry smirk. "You better not go and ditch me y'know?"

"Heh! I'm just going to ditch you then somehow come back to see your fa-"

Rikku was shocked into silence when Blappa and Nedus suddenly flew past her, both of them going to a far wall to grab their guns that they had hit her with a few hours ago.

Yuna also jumped up. An almighty fear in her different coloured eyes that just didn't seem to fit her. Whatever it was, Rikku knew it was bad.

"Sin!" Nedus screamed with a blood-curdling tone, making every hair on Rikku's body stand up on air in terror.

Sin. He was back for her. She could tell. She didn't even see Sin but right now it was almost impossible to say that Sin didn't know where she was especially seeming as Sin might have been the one to dump her here in the Al Bhed's views.

"Rikku…" Yuna started almost inaudibly, pressing her hand into Rikku's clammy ones and pulling her cousin up so she was attached to her hip. "Stay back and try and get inside!" Yuna yelled the last part as she rushed forward towards the wall where Nedus and Blappa was covering from the giant fin that had started to appear out of the sea.

Pulling out her Mirage Claw and strapping it on her right fist, Rikku followed her cousin despite the consequences she would receive when she got there…But it was to be expected. Yuna - at the moment - was the only family she knew apart from Cid and even now, he wasn't here so she wouldn't just abandon Yuna. Especially in her time of need.

It was as if Yuna had sensed her coming - that or she felt the thuds of Rikku's footsteps coming towards her - because she turned with the most horrible - and not to mention angriest - glare Rikku had ever seen.

"I told you to get inside! You're not match for this thing!" Yuna roared, pulling a strange device off the wall before aiming the device at Sin's fin. "Go and get going before Sin starts to rip the top deck off!"

Shaking her head stubbornly, Rikku ignored all of the Al Bhed's yells next to her and hefted herself over the large slab wall that was hiding most of the Al Bhed from Sin's omnipresent power to face Sin's compelling looking fin which by the second was edging closer and closer.

"Sin! Come out and take me back to-eep!" Rikku fell silent as a shadow started to close over her whole body, making her body shiver at the menacing sound that erupted from Sin's mouth.

"Rikku!" Yuna yelled from behind the slab of wall, her device at the ready just over her shoulder whilst her other device - which looked strangely like a grenade - was hoisted tightly across her shoulder. "For Shiva's sake! Get the hell out of the way already!"

Whimpering, Rikku felt her chin tilt up like she had been hit in an unmistakeable uppercut when Sin's fin collided with the rails of the Al Bhed's ship and before she knew it. Rikku was thrown aside like a rag doll straight into the slab that was shielding Yuna, Blappa, Nedus and the rest of the Al Bhed companions that had filed onto the top deck.

"Rikku!" Yuna was calling Rikku's name again however this time in a more soft, pleading voice. A voice that one used in desperation and sadness. And no matter how hard she tried, Rikku couldn't get to her cousin without being thrown off the ship and into the icy depths below.

"Yuna! Tuh'd dno yht kad du ran! Oui'mm pa gemmat ouincamv!" A woman's voice screamed over the rocking waves and the mechanical wails of Sin. Whatever the woman was saying, it didn't sound good for her.

"Cra'c so luiceh! E lyh'd zicd mad ran tea!" Yuna's response was a dry sob mixed with a cry of despair. "E tuh'd lyna fryd oui cyo Lakkam! Cra'c so luiceh yht Cid'c tyikrdan! Cra'c kud y meva rana! E fuh'd mad Ceh dyga ran pylg du Zanarkand! Hu syddan fryd E cyet pavuna!"

Rikku moaned, rubbing the back of her neck to try and ease away from the mind-numbing pain that blocking out most of her eyesight. What an idiot. She had no idea why she went to try and challenge Sin head on maybe it was just the heat of the moment kinda thing. Or spur of the moment. Something weird like that.

"Sin! Sin!" Echoed the voice of many Al Bhed's, some from the speakers that was sounding out around the ship whilst the other voices were belonged to the Al Bhed behind her.

Struggling up, Rikku blinked hard to try and get rid of the blurred edges around her eyes that was making her head whirl frantically and thump crazily. Sin. Sin was right in front of her and now she couldn't move without falling into the sea because if she even put one toe out of line…It was goodbye Rikku.

"Hold onto me!" Someone yelled behind her in despondency, making the blonde girl turn to see that Yuna was holding out her hand for her to take, to pull her back behind the metal slab to her safety, the safety of Yuna's arms that would be able to give her some comfort.

All of a sudden, the boat tilted and Rikku realized why Yuna had been holding out her hand. With a yelp, Rikku gripped onto her cousin's hand yet was equally surprised and disappointed to find that Yuna's hand was very clammy and hot which wasn't good.

"Yuna!" Rikku yelled, trying to arch her body up so that it would be easier for Yuna to pull her up and behind the slab. "Yunie!"

Growling fiercely, Yuna yanked hard on Rikku's arm - so hard in fact that Yuna was sure she'd just pulled a muscle - nonetheless to no avail when the boat lurched and brought Yuna further away from the protection of the metal slab where most of her companions sat to sit out Sin's attack.

"Yuna!" Blappa called out from his corner of the slab, lunging forward to grip Yuna's shoulders to try and pull the brunette back into the safety of his arms.

"No Blappa! Rikku!" Yuna whirled her face around to face her fellow Al Bhed companion with a look of extreme anxiety. "Rikku'c kuehk du vymm ehdu dra cay ev E tuh'd ramb ran!"

Whining with absolute fear of what lurked behind her, from the corner of her eye Rikku noticed that Yuna was also falling too because of the extra added weight - which was herself - in addition to that the only way to stop Yuna from falling…

'_Eesh. This sucks so badly.'_ Rikku thought with a sour pout on her face, leaning back slightly so that she could just see Sin's fin hit against the boat again in a demented attempt to try and crush the boat apart.

With an exaggerated sigh, Rikku tugged hard to get rid of Yuna's hand whilst using her other hand to reach out to push Yuna behind the slab. Hard so that Yuna wouldn't be knocked completely off balance and would come flying with her into the sea.

"RIKKU!" Yuna screamed, trying to lunge forward but failing due to the fact that both Nedus and Blappa had grabbed her waist and was pulling her back towards them with all their strength.

Rikku smirked. This was the most stupidest thing she had ever done in her life. The most crappiest and the most heroic thing she had ever done in her nineteen years of living.

Without expecting it to happen, Rikku's back collided with something solid and metal which turned out to be the rails that held people back by the feel of it and before Rikku could even begin to try and grip the rails from behind, she was propelled by the strong force of Sin into the dark, furious sea below.

* * *

Gracefully - of course, a summoner had to be at least a little bit graceful - Lulu glided her way into the Chamber of the Fayth, her eyes looked wild and alert as she studied her surroundings carefully.

Yu Yevon's symbols were printed across the walls in a semi-circle, making the Chamber look like a room full of patterns and riddles…Which it was, but these riddles Lulu knew how to solve.

Kneeling down just behind the giant, light-coloured orb that held the translated image of the Fayth that she might (or might not, depending on the situation) receive once she stated what she wanted from the Fayth in return of them helping her on her journey to defeat Sin.

Silence and calm washed over the Black Mage, rinsing away all the nervousness and the doubt until Lulu was sure that she was ready to face the Fayth in what Elhal had dubbed her 'Judging Ceremony' which was basically to see if she wanted to defeat Sin for the right reason and if the Fayth thought she was up for it.

The situation she was in was mirthless. Not impractical. This was her story and she was going to complete it until the very end. The very end of her defeating Sin. The End. It seemed ridiculous that her story should end so quickly by just defeating Sin yet it was her fate and something she had needed (and wanted) to do since she had turned nineteen.

A year after Chappu's death and twelve months since she, Tidus and Wakka had come back from their disastrous pilgrimage.

A pungent smirk flickered over the Black Mage's face for a moment at the memories of her pilgrimage before transforming into a blank empty look at the heart-wrenching memory of Chappu's death.

The Hymn of the Fayth calmed her slightly as it once more repeated over and over in the Chamber…For once, Lulu felt at ease with just being alone with the Fayth in complete and utter silence.

Yet the nagging of Elhal in the back of her mind made Lulu get back to the task on hand (which was contacting the Fayth) and not just sit there and wallow in her own sad and unneeded emotions.

This was what Elhal and Chappu would have both wanted. Together they would have wanted her to defeat Sin.

And she _was_ going to defeat Sin even if she lost both of her legs and both of her arms, she _was_ and _would_ defeat Sin.

Staring intently at the patterns of the Fayth that was circled around the yellow oval, Lulu started to perform Yevon's prayer to the Fayth as if in hope that it would help coax the reluctant Fayth out of its holy palace.

In what seemed to be a matter of minutes, Lulu felt another presence in front of her as she prayed wordlessly - words would only ruin the peaceful and fretful thoughts that was pushing back her nervousness and wretchedness at the very far back of her mind and soul - and not any old presence either.

The presence of the Fayth.

A young dark-haired girl who reminded Lulu of her own mother - however only by appearance - bowed at her with her two hands pressed together in a godly manner which did nothing but make Lulu's breath hitch at how beautifully young the girl was.

"Welcome." The girl twirled once, sending Lulu's raven hair that had been resting on her shoulder flying behind her back. "You require my help?"

Lulu nodded, standing up straight so that she was looking down at the willowy-looking girl in front of her. "Yes. I do. However, it is up to you if I require it or not."

The Fayth looked at her for a moment, her soulless eyes having a rare sort of glint that shone freely with exhilaration yet before Lulu could try to say anything else about her journey involving her becoming a summoner…The Fayth sat down with her arms crossed.

"Why do you want to defeat Sin?" The girl asked Lulu gently, her tone sending soothing waves towards Lulu's stiff form.

A resounding sound echoed through the Chamber. "I thought that was pretty obvious." Despite Lulu being in what people all around her had called a sanctified place, Lulu couldn't help but be a little bit short-tempered at that moment. That and she was really, really nervous.

"Some come for revenge, some come for destruction, some come for our help to bring back a loved one…" The Fayth shook her head sadly. "I hope you do not come for either of those things. No matter how much you want it. I can not bring you revenge or your loved ones."

Biting her lower lip, Lulu shook away the tears was threatening to overcome her and let out a low and hostile chuckle.

"Of course not." She looked up, her lower lip was pouted out in determination. "I just want to bring Spira happiness. Just like my father did."

The Fayth sat up straight at that, her head tilted to the side in interest. "Sir Mamoru? The guardian?"

Lulu nodded once, wondering why the Fayth was so interested in her father when at the start the Fayth hadn't even recognized her as father's daughter in the first place.

"Oh…So…Bahamut wasn't lying."

Troubled into silence, Lulu snared her lower lip in between her teeth. Who was Bahamut? And what wasn't he lying about? But what bugged Lulu the most was, how come it had something to do with her being Sir Mamoru's daughter?

"Pardon?"

The Fayth giggled behind her hand, standing up to do another bow towards Lulu in respect. "You are missing a piece. A piece taken by Sin."

'_She means Chappu. I'm sure of it.'_ Lulu thought morosely to herself, bowing her head low in a gesture of admiration towards the Fayth. '_But why would Chappu have any importance to me becoming a summoner I have no idea.'_

"But a new piece is coming. I assure you." The girl smiled sweetly, dancing around in a circle before letting her sweet smile widen. "You will like the new piece, I am sure of it."

Lulu didn't say anything. Instead she just kneeled there and watched the little Fayth with probing eyes. '_A new piece?'_

"The only problem with the new piece…" The Fayth danced again, this time around Lulu twice before standing back in the middle it's yellow oval. "It's very fragile and is _one _of the only things that will keep us all together."

Again, Lulu didn't say anything. Only thought. '_What in Yevon's name is this Fayth talking about? A new piece? Connecting us?'_

"I'm sure the new piece will make you complete again." The young girl smiled warmly as if she was reassuring Lulu of a wonderful fate that could end terribly if she wanted it to. "But I don't know what else will happen. I am sorry."

Lulu blinked hard. Wondering silently how this had anything to do with her becoming a summoner. Why did it? It made no sense but neither did life and she couldn't do anything about that…

"You are young Lulu of Besaid. Far too young. Yet…" The Fayth took a step forward so that she was directly just under Lulu's intense stare.

'_I'm twenty-six.'_ Lulu thought sourly, yet she still remained silent. This was of course her judging ceremony and she didn't want to ruin it because of something stupid that she had said.

"I think you are ready to defeat Sin." The girl smiled sincerely, her hands reaching up to just rest above Lulu's pale cheeks - seeming as she could not touch, this was the best she could do. "I think you are ready to be complete as well."

The girl removed her hands, stepping back so that she was at the far end of the yellow oval. "I am Valefor. And it is time we became one."

Lulu arched a neatly plucked raven eyebrow. Became one? Fantastic. Nothing else could make her happie-

Valefor lunged at her all of a sudden, startling Lulu so much that Lulu arched her back when Valefor leaped inside her very soul.

'_Calm summoner. I am settling into your very soul. Be patient.'_ Valefor ordered inside of Lulu's mind however this didn't help at all. In fact it just made Lulu cry out in pain at how loud Valefor's voice seemed to be.

Her body writhed and sprang in vicious agony yet still Lulu did not fall to the ground like her body was groaning at her to do and only when Valefor had finally settled down into her subconscious, Lulu fell to the floor like a rag doll.

_FFX_

_Al Bhed Translations;_

"_Fryd ec ed tu oui drehg?" - "What is it do you think?"_

"_Y veaht eh teckieca yc y risyh?" - "A fiend in disguise as a human?" _

"_Dyga y muug yd ran suna lmucamo, fa luimt pa secdygah." - "Take a look at her more closely, we could be mistaken." _

"_Nedus, kad net uv dra pmehtvumt yht kyk." - "Nedus, get rid of the blindfold and gag."_

"_Cra'c uha uv ic!" - "She's one of us!" _

"_Yht oui ghuf fryd amca E drehg? E drehg cra'c Cid'c tyikrdan!" - "And you know what else I think? I think she's Cid's daughter!"_

"_Cid'c tyikrdan? Esbuccepma! Cid dumt ic dryd rec tyikrdan teat hehadaah oaync yku!" - "Cid's daughter? Impossible! Cid told us that his daughter died nineteen years ago!"_

"_Hud esbuccepma o'ghuf?" - "Not impossible y'know?" _

"_E'mm zicd ycg ran ruf umt cra ec! Tir!" - "I'll just ask her how old she is! Duh!"_

"_Ar Nedus, cruimt fa damm ran frana Cid ec cu cra lyh ku muug vun res?" - "Eh Nedus, should we tell her where Cid is so she can go look for him?"_

"_Hu, hud oad. Fa haat cusauha du ramb ic muug yd dra niehc pahaydr ic." - "No, not yet. We need someone to help us look at the ruins beneath us." _

"_Pacetac...Oui teth'd damm ic ran hysa un ran yka. E tuh'd dnicd ran ahuikr du ryja dryd ehvunsydeuh - "Besides...You didn't tell us her name or her age. I don't trust her enough to have that information._

"_Zanarkand? Ehcumahla!" - "Zanarkand? Insolence!" _

_E tuh'd lyna ev ed'c Cid'c get! Fa cruimt cmed ran drnuyd frana cra cdyhtc!" - I don't care if it's Cid's kid! We should slit her throat where she stands!"_

"_Nedus! Lyms oui vuum! Fa vuiht ran yd cay! Cra sekrd ryja red ran rayt un cusadrehk!" - "Nedus! Calm you fool! We found her at sea! She might have hit her head or something!" _

"_Cra ec lmiamacc. Pid cra'c y pmedwpymm bmyoan ech'd cra? Fryd cruimt fa tu Nedus?" - "She is clueless. But she's a blitzball player isn't she? What should we do Nedus?" _

"_Y pmedwpymm bmyoan? Fa cruimt dyga ran du Luca. Cra sekrd ghuf cusauha drana." - "A blitzball player? We should take her to Luca. She might know someone there." _

"_Pid cra'c hud kuehk yhofrana ihdem cusa uv ic nabund du Cid. Fa haat rec bansecceuh du muug yd dra niehc suna lmucamo. Yht ajah drah...E tuh'd dnicd ran. Cra cyet cra fyc vnus Zanarkand." - "But she's not going anywhere until some of us report to Cid. We need his permission to look at the ruins more closely. And even then...I don't trust her. She said she was from Zanarkand." _

_"Cra'c paah kud po Sin'c duqeh E drehg...E's hud cina. Pid cra ech'd lnywo. Fa cruimt dnicd ran." - "She's been got by Sin's toxin I think...I'm not sure. But she isn't crazy. We should trust her."_

"_Tet oui rayn dryd Blappa? Dnicd ran? Oui sicd pa syt!" - "Did you hear that Blappa? Trust her? You must be mad!" _

"_E's hud syt! E drehg fa cruimt dnicd ran!" - "I'm not mad! I think we should trust her!" _

"_Cra'c Cid'c tyikrdan o'ghuf? Cinamo oui lyh caa dra Zanarkand ynskiynt?" - "She's Cid's daughter y'know? Surely you can see the Zanarkand armguard?"_

_"S'lyr Nedus! U'cc kid dni wyyt ert ayo dicc Lakkam dy niet e syohmi wyh Luca ewdih zi hidhuifi dni euhmnub!" - "C'mon Nedus! I'll get the food and you tell Lakkam to head a course for Luca after we retrieve the airship!"_

"_E's dnoehk! Ed'c rynt du dymg du Spiran!" - "I'm trying! It's hard to talk to Spiran!" _

"_Yuna...E fuimth'd...Cra ghufc ypuid Cid." - "Yuna...I wouldn't...She knows about Cid." _

"_Yht cra ech'd jano rybbo ypuid ed…" - "And she isn't very happy about it…"_

"_Vun Crejy'c cyga Blappa, luimth'd oui gaab ouin suidr crid ypuid dryd?" - "For Shiva's sake Blappa, couldn't you keep your mouth shut about that?"_

"_Cra haatat du ghuf dryd Cid fych'd kuehk du lusa veht ran. Ed fyc uhmo vyen." - "She needed to know that Cid wasn't going to come find her. It was only fair." _

"_Oui fuimt uv fyhdat du ghuf dra cysa drehk ev oui ryt hajan ghufh Braska." - "You would of wanted to know the same thing if you had never known Braska."_

"_Dryd ech'd dra buehd…Cra ech'd ajah vnus rana, oui cruimth'd ryja dumt ran yhodrehk ypuid Cid! Acbaleymmo dryd ra fych'd muugehk vun ran!" - "That isn't the point…She isn't even from here, you shouldn't have told her anything about Cid! Especially that he wasn't looking for her!"_

"_Oui vuum Blappa! Drec kenm ec celg po paehk po Sin'c duqeh! Tu oui naymmo drehg dryd cra haatc yhosuna ramb paehk saccat ib po oui? - "You fool Blappa! This girl is sick by being by Sin's toxin! Do you really think that she needs anymore help being messed up by you?_

"_Yht yc vun oui, oui'na y lusbmada eteud. Oui lyh'd bnudald ran vnus ajanodrehk. Cid fych'd dnoehk du veht ran yht oui ghuf ed." - "And as for you, you're a complete idiot. You can't protect her from everything. Cid wasn't trying to find her and you know it." _

"_Ra uhmo tet dryd palyica ra fyhdat du bnudald ran. Ra zicd teth'd damm yhouha ypuid frana dra ramm Rikku fyc." - "He only did that because he wanted to protect her. He just didn't tell anyone about where the hell Rikku was." _

"_Cra'c so luiceh druikr, E tuh'd lyna ev oui drehg cra fyc po Sin'c duqeh. E tuh'd ajah lyna ev cra'c emm. E muja ran, cra'c so luiceh yht E's hud kuehk du mad ran vymm uid uv uin naylr ykyeh. Ajah ev Cid tuach'd ybbnuja uv ic pnehkehk ran du res." - "She's my cousin though, I don't care if you think she was by Sin's toxin. I don't even care if she's ill. I love her, she's my cousin and I'm not going to let her fall out of our reach again. Even if Cid doesn't approve of us bringing her to him." _

"_E's crulgat. Ryc cra naymmo kud cilr y crund yddahdeuh cbyh un tuac dryd nih eh dra vysemo?" - "I'm shocked. Has she really got such a short attention span or does that run in the family?"_

"_Yuna! Tuh'd dno yht kad du ran! Oui'mm pa gemmat ouincamv!" - "Yuna! Don't try and get to her! You'll be killed yourself!" _

"_Cra'c so luiceh! E lyh'd zicd mad ran tea!" - "She's my cousin! I can't just let her die!" _

"_E tuh'd lyna fryd oui cyo Lakkam! Cra'c so luiceh yht Cid'c tyikrdan! Cra'c kud y meva rana! E fuh'd mad Ceh dyga ran pylg du Zanarkand! Hu syddan fryd E cyet pavuna!" - "I don't care what you say Lakkam! She's my cousin and Cid's daughter! She's got a life here! I won't let Sin take her back to Zanarkand! No matter what I said before!"_


	4. Chapter 3

_This chapter focuses around Rikku washing up in Besaid, discovering more about 'Spira' and finally…FINALLY (for people who have been waiting). Lulu and Rikku meet. Oh and…KIMAHRI TALKS MORE THAN HE EVER DOES IN FFX. :D I love Kimahri. :3_

CHAPTER 3

_-x-_

_My first time seeing Lulu…I guess you could say I almost lost my mind. _

_Y'know what I mean right? _

_I even forgot asking her how the hell I got back to Zanarkand._

_I was absolutely star struck._

_And who could blame me?_

_-x-_

What Rikku imagined - what she had repeated over and over in her mind - was that when she had been sucked into the icy cold sea that taken over her senses that she would immediately wake up in Zanarkand with Auron glaring down at her with a look of dignified worry.

What she didn't imagine was that she'd be in Luca's Machina Shop with Lance leaning up against its sign post and that Auron was staring at her intensely with his secluded dark eyes.

Rikku glanced at them both worryingly, suspecting that she had totally missed the game and everything that had happened between her, Yuna, Blappa and Nedus had been a whole, crazy dream."Hey!" Lance yelled all of a sudden, stepping forward and his hand was pointed behind his back as if he was gesturing to someone behind him - which could possibly be Auron, but by the looks of it Auron wasn't there anymore. "I can't believe you've gone and left me for that Summoner!"Blinking, Rikku rubbed the back of her neck with a worried expression on her facial features. "What Summoner?"With a grunt, Lance turned on his heel and stomped back to where he came from with a tight huff until he turned back around so that he could let her see that his features had softened dramatically. "Sir Mamoru's daughter obviously."

Rikku's jaw dropped slightly, making her look like a fish that had just ran out of water. "Oh. Her." She scratched the nape of her neck once more. "When did I leave you for her again?"

A low sadistic chuckle rang out, startling Rikku so much that she fell straight on her butt.

Scowling upwards at the direction of the bitter chuckle, Rikku felt her face drop before her lips parted to let out an aggressive growl escape her. "You!" She jumped up, rushing towards the shuddering figure that was laughing so cunningly underneath their breath that Rikku was surprised that they hadn't exploded yet with laughter.

"YOU!" Rikku screamed, letting her delicate digits clench furiously around the crimson and gold fabric of Auron's robe, tugging it energetically so that Auron bumped into her chest a few times as she did so. "You complete utter idiot! What the HELL were you thinking back there? Pulling me into Sin like that!" Rikku jumped up and down as she yelled at her mentor as if this would help her release the stress and anger that she still held for Auron and his irresponsible antics.

Auron 'hmped' slowly under his breath, his thin lips pulling at the corners into what appeared to be a smug smirk. "You got to see your family did you not?"

Rikku cursed under her breath. Typical of Auron to know that she had seen her family without even being there himself. For Shiva's (who was she now? Yuna?) sake the guy must have an Invisibility Cloak or something that he wore, just for kicks of course.

Before long though, Rikku exploded. "That isn't the point! You still let Sin suck us up in its butt you big meanie!" She pounced on her mentor again, however this time she was using her fists to punch against Auron's rock hard muscles. "And you didn't even tell me why you let Sin suck us up either!"

"Hey! Don't take it out on Auron!" Lance suddenly interrupted, his fist high up in the air in a threatening manner. "At least he wasn't the one who was going to abandon us to go find Sir Mamoru's daughter at Luca!"

Rikku grabbed both sides of her head and let out an embroidered groan whilst shaking her head to side like a wet dog shaking off the water of its fur, her impatience and frustration finally getting to her. "I wasn't going to abandon you all for Shiva's sake! How is it my fault I got sucked up by Sin?" Without any ado, Rikku glared at the man beside her before pointing her index finger at the calm looking Auron. "HE DID IT! IT WAS HIM! ALL HIM! AURON. NOT RIKKU. AURONN!"

And for just good measure, Rikku jabbed Auron in the ribs with a strained smile, hoping that Lance would possibly drop the subject of her apparently ditching everyone for Sir Mamoru's daughter…That she hadn't even met at all.

Auron shook his head, grunted once more before turning on his heel to walk backdown the twisting and turning streets of Zanarkand, obviously not wanting to listen to her rant of him getting her sucked up by Sin.

Rikku furrowed her eyebrows together, preparing to run after her mentor when a sudden, loud voice yelled out towards her as if she was inside a huge stadium of blitzers.

"Yo! Pass the ball ya?"

* * *

Rikku awoke with a stiff back and an equally rigid neck. Whatever was happening to her body was because of her floating all night thanks to Sin's unexpected attack yet even if Sin hadn't attacked…Rikku had a bad feeling she'd of woken up with a sore back anyway thanks to the damn scars on her back - which still hadn't been healed by anyone because of Sin's brutal and sudden attack.

Standing directly up, Rikku glanced over her shoulder - her beads hitting her face sharply as she did so - to see that about four people were standing and staring at her from the beach and all five of them was male.

"Yo! Pass the ball ya?" One of them called at her again, jumping up and down while at the same time trying to keep doing a backwards kick whilst in the air.

Screwing her eyes up at the five men, Rikku examined their clothes with interest and wild excitement. Their clothes! They may not look as expensive as the Zanarkand Abes uniform, but their clothes were definitely blitz ball like and then there was the armguard! Yes!

She pumped her fist up in the air with a goofy grin spreading on her features before slamming her fist back down so that it rested by her side. Yuna had told her that most blitzers were in Luca so maybe this place WAS Luca?

"Yeehaw!" Rikku screamed, her grin widening even more at the possibility that she was closer to her home than she thought she had been in the first place. This was great! At least she didn't have to go and try and find a map to Luca which if she was honest would probably waste time anyway seeming as she could hardly read a map at all.

"Aye! Come on now ya? Ya gonna pass the ball or what?" They yelled at her again, this time with more irritation than before which signalled to the blonde Al Bhed that these were people who didn't like to wait at all.

With an excited cheer, Rikku turned her head slightly so that she was looking down at the sea over her shoulder and almost instantly her eyes widened at the same time as her heart picking up in anticipation.

A blitz ball? Well…That made even more sense now! She had to be in Luca otherwise there would be no blitz balls around right? Right! She was in Luca! Now all she had to do was wait for Yunie and the other Al Bhed to rescue her nevertheless at the same time looking for Auron or that Sir Mamoru's daughter or whatever. Surely if Auron knew how to get back, then the daughter of her mentor's friend would too, they were friends after all.

Though from the sounds of angry mutters coming from the beach, Rikku felt that she would need to pass the blitz ball back sooner or late seeming as these guys WERE getting irritated with her.

With a grunt, Rikku kicked the blitz ball up high in the air - so high in fact that when Rikku looked up to see where it was going to land that the sun was actually blocked by the small (yet so large) ball - before letting her left leg spring out to fly up in the air, making her blonde curls and tresses fly all around her face. And then, without further ado, she let her right leg jolt the ball back towards the beach.

It was good to feel the euphoria of kicking blitz balls again, it was good to feel how the wind seemed to howl as she did it and it was so GOOD to know that she still remembered her signature move. What with all the things that had been happening to her, Rikku was surprised she remembered anything about the Zanarkand Abes and her moniker moves.

The Jump Shot X. Rikku had no idea why the move was called that. Lance had just told her to call it that so people would wonder why it was called that anyway in addition to that it would help her get even more popularity than before. Which wasn't exactly the most fantastic idea she'd ever had, but whatever. It had been a decent idea last time she had thought about the move.

Now it just sucked.

The shot whirled around and around one of the player's head before diverting off into what looked like to be a very green jungle behind the group yet before any of the men at the beach could even think about complaining, the blitz ball flew back out from the jungle and sped straight back at Rikku with mind-boggling speed.

A cocky smirk appeared on the blonde Al Bhed's face. Even if the name sucked, the move certainly didn't. This was the move which Rikku had perfected with just hard work, Auron nagging at her and ALOT of cookies and milk.

Before she knew it, Rikku was flying again, though on the other hand, this time she was spinning sideways like she was on a enormous bouncy ride which spun you around like a wheel.

Furthermore before she even skimmed the surface of the cool liquid below her, Rikku had throttled her leg forward to connect with thick rubber once more.

Rapidly descending, Rikku was more than pleased to discover that the water underneath her wasn't shallow and that she could finish her move off by spinning on her hands to regain her first position - which was her standing on her two feet.

Rikku didn't have to look to know that the blitz ball was now back in the jungle, her grin wild with frenzied animation and joy, joy which was her being her own self once more.

"Whoa!" Most of them yelled it, although Rikku could tell some of them - the large, muscular one in particular - was just happy staring at her as if she was God's only creation at her mad skills.

Not to be vain or anything. But she wasn't the star player of the Zanarkand Abes for nothing right?

At that moment - just before Rikku was about to just float in the ocean some more - Rikku felt her eyes narrow suspiciously as the large muscular blitz ball player stepped forward and covered his mouth with bulky hands.

"Hey! You! Come over here for a sec!" He yelled loudly, startling Rikku at how loud he actually was.

Rikku pouted her lips and placed both of her hands on her hips, tilting her head to the side and eyeing the redheaded man's muscles with interest. Not that she was interested in the dude like THAT, it was just that hardly any man that she knew had any muscle like this dude.

Even Lance didn't have any muscle. The only man that she knew who had any REAL muscle was Auron and just thinking about Auron like that was making her feel rather repulsed at herself.

But this guy, he wanted to talk to her? Hey! Maybe he knew her! Or even better, he could know where Sir Mamoru's daughter or even better than THAT! He could know where Auron was! Yes! That was how she was going to think. Positivity was always the answer to everything, even totally depressing things like walking her neighbours pet canines around the WHOLE of Zanarkand.

With a smug smirk, Rikku looked over at the sea behind her once more - just in case Yuna had decided to sneak up on her to surprise her or something weird like that - yet since there was no boats or people waiting for her in the depths of the sea, she quickly turned and started to race towards the sand dunes where the redhead and the rest of the blitzers were waiting for her.

The water sloshing at her knees obviously slowed her down quite a bit in spite of that though Rikku found herself not even breaking a sweat getting to the rest of the blitzers, even if she was about 500 yards away from them.

Luca. It was rather like a holiday park in a way. Wild jungles and lovely smooth, sand that she had only seen in magazines and the most magnificent blue sky which was full of seagulls and bright sun which just soaked Rikku up to the fullest, making her already sunny grin flesh even wider than before.

Zanarkand had never been so boring. Luca was…

Rikku looked around even more at her surroundings, feeling much like a twelve-year old on their first day abroad.

Luca was just so fantastic! It was almost like someone had ventured into her dreams and had made her a perfect world. The problem was.

Rikku's face almost dropped at the thought. _Positivity. Positivity. Remember it Rikku. Positivity. _

Why would she want to go back to Zanarkand? This place was just so much better! And so much more sunnier! In Zanarkand it was once in a blue moon that the sun even APPEARED without no clouds covering it up.

Before she even realized it herself, Rikku finally stepped down onto the hot dunes of sand and was swept up into a bone-crushing one armed hug by the redhead that had yelled her over.

"Holy Yevon sista, where did you learn moves like that?" The redhead shouted, still clutching her and lifting her up in the air like a rag doll.

Subconsciously, Rikku stiffened in the redhead's arms - partly because a stranger was hugging her yet again - however another part was the fact that this man had said holy _Yevon_.

'_EEP! A Yevonite is hugging me!'_ Rikku mentally squealed, wishing she had the strength to throw this brute off her and make a run for it. '_Once he realizes I'm an Al Bhed! Eep! I didn't want to die like this!'_

Without warning, the redhead dropped her and Rikku fell once more - this time however, she wasn't dreaming - onto her butt just to glare angrily up at the man before her.

The redheaded blitz ball player smiled sheepishly at her, looking down at her with an uncomfortable stiff expression that had quickly wiped away his smile. "Sorry about that. Forget that I'm bigger than everyone else ya?"

Rikku dropped her glare, choosing to instead arch a delicate blonde brow at the redhead. "Uh. Ya. Anyway…-"

"What team you play for?" Another of the blitzers yelled at her all of a sudden, his chubby form pushing past most of his teammates in order to stand just beside the redhead to face her directly. "You aren't no amateur, that's for sure. Right Captn Wakka?" The chubby blitzer turned to the redhead, an admiring stare sketched on his face.

Wakka nodded in response, turning his head to face her once more before looking over at his team.

With a buoyant smirk, Rikku jumped up and spread her two fingers on her left hand apart in her trademark sign. Things were about to get even better now that these people wanted to know which team she played for. And with any luck, they might know how to get back to Zanarkand - even if Rikku didn't want to go back, she would at least want to see Lance (he was her best friend after all).

"The Zanarkand Abes!" Rikku yelled cheerily, pushing her fist up in the air and doing a little dance which involved her twirling around in a circle and kicking her feet out at the same time.

Silence fell almost instantly as the syllables left Rikku's lips, all of the blitzers - including Wakka - around her looking at her as if she had just told them all that she was going to strip naked and do the cha, cha slide.

That or she had accidentally insulted a _very_ old place. The place that Yuna had been talking about. The old ruins of Zanarkand. HER Zanarkand.

"Uh. What was that again sista?" Wakka stepped forward, hiding her from the view of his teammates who probably were looking at her weirdly. "Did you say Zanarkand?"

Blinking, Rikku rubbed the nape of her neck wishing that the whole ground below her would just gobble her up. Anything to get out of Wakka's curious gaze.

_How am I supposed to get out of this?_

"Uh…" Rikku mumbled, glad that Wakka was so much taller than her so that she wouldn't have the embarrassment of seeing all the other blitzers outraged (or confused) faces.

"You been by Sin or somethin'? Wakka poked her shoulder gently, looking down at her with a wild look of bewilderment. Obviously it wasn't everyday that somebody appeared out of the sea saying that they played for the Zanarkand Abes and obviously they weren't an Al Bhed either yet by the looks of it, either this man didn't care or he hadn't noticed (just yet).

What did Sin have to do with her anyway? And how did this dude know about Sin? Eesh, how did anyone know about Sin apart from her? Sure Sin suddenly appeared out near Baaj Temple (or so Yunie had said) but that didn't mean EVERYBODY knew about Sin…Right?

"Might've been by Sin's toxin ya?" The chubby blitzer said again, nudging Wakka in his ribs whilst motioning with his eyes at Rikku's own with a look of shock mixed with a look of surreptitious trust.

If it was possible, a little light bulb switched on inside Rikku's head at the redhead's words.

That was right! That's what Yunie had said when she had first mentioned Zanarkand! She could get herself out of this if she just told this redhead that she'd been gotten by Sin's toxin and maybe if she was lucky, he wouldn't realize what she was and would leave her alone after that.

Rikku pumped her fist up in the air - no doubt earning strange looks from the men around her - and let out a slight giggle.

"Right!" Rikku giggled again. She wasn't really helping herself become more believable, but what the hell, she just REALLY wanted to get away from these guys so they wouldn't try and gut her or anything for being an Al Bhed. "Sin's toxin! Weird stuff huh?"

Without hesitation, Rikku pointed at her head with her index finger and then began to turn and spin her finger in what looked like she was motioning to herself and the others that she was crazy.

"Does some messed up stuff to your head right?" Rikku asked with a strained smirk, realizing that her actions only made the men stare at her with more intensity. "Eesh, can't even remember where I am or where I came from. Messed up huh?"

Silence for a few moments. Until the redhead nodded slowly as if he was saying wordlessly that he was just a little bit freaked out at her actions - which Rikku couldn't blame him for. Though all she was doing was trying to get herself out of this mess and what she certainly hadn't bargained for was that the hole she was already in to get deeper by the second.

"Sure…" The redheaded blitzer nodded, unsure at first before straightening up with his arms crossed against his chest. "Y'say you don't know where you are or where you come from right?"

Without hesitation, Rikku shook her head. There was no point lying now. Besides, this Wakka guy didn't seem to dislike her (well, just yet anyway) so maybe it was safe to trust him for now.

Wakka pinched her shoulder gently, causing her to stare deep into his deep chocolate eyes and before Rikku knew it, her hand was caught in his in a hold her captain used to do when they were just about to get ready for a big game against hard competition - like the Zanarkand Duggles for example.

"Well I'm Wakka, coach and captain of the Besaid Aurochs sista!" A large, friendly grin spread across his face and Rikku couldn't do anything else, other than smile as well even when the grip got tighter against her fist. "And that's where you are. Isle of Besaid!"

Blinking, Rikku looked back at the sea again. Besaid? Really? Hm. So she had been wrong thinking it to be Luca but that wasn't really her fault, she didn't belong here in the first place so how was she supposed to know where she was? Right. She had no idea.

_Oh! I've got to introduce myself too right?_

Holding out her hand, Rikku smiled with good cheer as her hand was accepted by Wakka's own forceful one.

"And I'm Rikku!" The blonde danced on the spot a little, letting go of Wakka's hand and doing two cartwheels before rushing back to the redheaded blitzer.

Then, out of the blue came an unexpected sound which knocked Rikku off guard and made Wakka's smile drop instantaneously.

A growl mixed with an animalistic snarl came from her stomach, causing Rikku to grab her stomach with one hand whilst using her other hand to use her index finger to scratch just under her right cheekbone, giving Wakka a sheepish grin.

Suddenly though, before Rikku realized what was happening. A loud laugh escaped through the redheaded captain's parted lips, making Rikku jump and hold herself as if it she had been forced on by an attacker with a spear or something EXTRA sharp.

"You hungry ya?" Wakka turned his back on her all of a sudden, however, he still looked over his broad shoulders at her, a confident laugh still turning his features into a look of complete humour.

"Guess so." Rikku laughed weakly, rubbing her stomach to try and ease the ache there.

"Well come on then! I'll take you back to the village. Get ya something there, ya?" Wakka called back to her over his shoulder, starting to jog off into a clearing that looked like it led up to the jungle that she had kicked the blitz ball in.

Rikku followed the redhead blitzer, still rubbing her stomach while looking over her shoulder to see if she knew ANYONE or maybe if (as she had said before) someone had come looking for her after she had been swept away by the dark, cold depths of the sea.

'_Ugh. This world is too confusing for me to figure out.'_ Rikku thought bitterly, crossing her arms behind her head as she continued to walk behind the redhead. '_But even so, maybe I should trust this guy…He doesn't look like he's going to gut me at least.'_

"So…Wakka." Rikku murmured, speeding up a little to try and catch up with the captain of the Besaid Aurochs. "Zanarkand was destroyed a thousand years ago. Or so I've heard. Is it true?"

Wakka stopped walking all of a sudden, turning around to face her with an odd solemn look on his face.

"Long time ago, there were tons of gigantic cities in Spira. Cities with machina - machines - to run 'em!" The redhead shook his head, bowing his head so that he hid his eyes from the curious blonde. "The people of these cities played all day without a care in the world ya? While letting the machina do all the work."

Without meaning to, Rikku winced at Wakka's words. So. Zanarkand had been a machina city in the stereotypes set by Spira (that was what this world was called right?) but did that mean it was her fault that…

"And this what happened." Wakka spoke out all of a sudden, startling Rikku from her thoughts so that she was looking directly up at the blitz ball captain. He motioned towards the jungle and beach, a little smile making his lips turn up at the corner. "Sin came and destroyed all the big cities and that includes Zanarkand too ya?" Wakka rubbed the back of his neck, shaking his head as if trying to show that he too was stunned by the way Spira had been in the past. "So yeah, that was about a thousand years back."

Rikku didn't know what to say to that instead she just nodded. Though now after hearing what two people had told her now (Yunie and Wakka - and they couldn't be lying could they?) her insides were starting to wriggle uncertainly.

Lance. He was dead then, right? Killed…

Shaking her head fiercely, Rikku grabbed two strands of beaded tresses and started to twirl them between her two index fingers as if using them to try and distract her from the thoughts was terrorizing her mind.

"Y'know what gets me mad though?" Wakka nudged Rikku suddenly, sending her back a few steps so that her ankles just scraped against the crumbled rocks of the jungle stones behind her. "That we gotta pay for what some fools did in the past ya? I mean that's stupid ya?"

Rikku's insides didn't just twist now. They knotted, they squirmed and now she felt mentally and physically sick.

Had her age from her universe really done this to the world of Spira? And if it had, why did she care so much? Maybe it wasn't that she cared, maybe it was because she felt guilty and if it wasn't that then, she sure as hell didn't feel so good being in this Wakka's presence when she knew she'd be slaughtered if he ever found out the truth about her past and her heritage.

Apparently, her guilt (if that what it was) showed on her face because before Rikku could even complain, Wakka had slung his right arm over her shoulders and had pulled her into a brotherly hug.

"But you playin' for the Zanarkand Abes! Hah!" Wakka roared with laughter, lifting his head back so that the sun was hitting him directly in the face. "Now that was a good one ya?"

With a weak chuckle, Rikku let Wakka comfort her - in his own weird way - with a tight, stiff form which led her wishing that she was ANYWHERE but where she was right at this moment.

"Yeah. Right." Rikku rubbed her arms with her hands, wishing that the ground would swallow her whole so she would have some privacy to wallow in her own sadness that was making her body tremble. Was she and Zanarkand really the reason that Sin was created? Why Sin terrorized everyone in Spira?

All of a sudden, Rikku felt the left side of her body breathe freely now that Wakka had left her side to start striding further into the jungle with a carefree grin on his features.

Rikku only stared at his back. Did she really deserve to go and get some food? After all that she and Zanarkand had caused to this beautiful world? That was if, she had caused it in the first place. Rikku really didn't have any idea, except that somehow a part of her just seemed to scream at her, telling her that her idea wasn't an idea at all. But the truth that she was so desperately trying to hide from.

"Eh. Ya coming?" Wakka called behind his shoulder, obviously just noticing that she wasn't following him anymore.

Glancing up, eyes wide and alert, Rikku plastered a forced smile on her face before rushing off after the redhead with an equally forced skip.

Whatever. Right now she wasn't going to focus on what Wakka just said, it would only hurt her brain if she did so and Rikku really didn't feel like giving herself concussion.

All that mattered right now was food and then Rikku could think about what she was going to do. And if she was going to like it or not.

* * *

Once she had almost been drowned by Wakka throwing her in a river that led to a long bridge, (which was supposedly the right way to the village of Besaid) Wakka dropped a huge bombshell of a question that she hadn't been expecting.

"So, ya know it's blitz season in Luca in about two days from now…" Wakka dropped the hint in slyly, whistling as they both strode across the edge of the bridge that was now leading up to some rocky terrain that Rikku was unfamiliar with.

Rikku certainly caught the hint. She just decided to ignore it.

"And?" Rikku scuffed her toe in the dirt for a moment before continuing on her way beside the redhead blitz ball player. "What's that got to do with me?"

Wakka sighed, bringing up his left hand to cover his eyes and swipe down his face as if he was trying to get the sleep out of his eyes. "Well y'know…Maybe you could…" The captain of the Aurochs sighed again, crossing his arms against his chest and speeding up his walking pace.

Grinning, Rikku forgot her worries for a moment and without hesitation proceeded to jog after the captain of the Aurochs in addition to being right behind Wakka, Rikku gripped the redhead's arm and swung it so that he was pushed back and she was pushed forward.

"Alright I get what you're saying Wakka!" Giggled Rikku, turning around to face the redhead with a light-hearted smirk. "You want me to help you out with ya team right?"

This time, the redheaded blitzer laughed louder than before once more slinging an arm around Rikku's shoulder. "Well. Ya. If you don't mind that is. And hey!" Wakka ended his sentence with a boyish giggle. "Maybe you'll see someone you know ya?"

Rikku nodded. This time though, she really did hope that she saw someone in Luca that she knew because if she did, then she'd be able to get back to Zanarkand.

When Wakka had been explaining the things around her, Rikku had been making up wild and crazy theories and they all led up to one thing.

If Rikku went back to Zanarkand. Maybe, just maybe…She could stop Sin from being created by changing Zanarkand into something different than it was now? She certainly had the power to do so, all she needed was the people.

Yup. So her decision was decided. She was going to Luca. She was going to find someone. She was going to change Zanarkand for the better, stop them using machina's all the time and then she'd try and get back to this universe again.

Rikku had no idea how she was going to change the past of a world that paralleled her own, but she just knew that she needed some time before she got back to Zanarkand. No. In fact, she needed ALOT of time.

Besides, she wanted to see Yunie again before she left.

"But you'll have to come with some of my friends as well ya?" Wakka said all of a sudden, his arm still slung around her shoulder like a man with a broken leg that _wasn't_ trying to walk. "Cause y'know, I'm gonna become a full-time guardian after Luca's tournament so I gotta take my summoner and other guardians with me."

"Sir Mamoru's daughter, right?" Rikku said suddenly, speaking without thinking. And then wishing she hadn't when Wakka threw her a rather apprehensive look towards her words.

"How'd you know that?" Wakka peered more closely at her now, his tall, red cowlick drooping slightly over her head so that it looked like Wakka was using his hair as an umbrella.

Rikku bit her lower lip at that. What the hell had she dug herself into _now?_ She couldn't tell Wakka that she'd heard from an Al Bhed off another Al Bhed that had been apparently been spying on this Sir Mamoru's daughter now could she? She'd be killed on the spot and if she was going to see Yunie, Blappa and even _Nedus_ again then she should immediately think up a way to get herself out of this mess.

"Uh. I dunno actually." Rikku feigned, pushing the palm of her right hand to her forehead to make it look like she had suddenly felt pain rip up right into her forehead and scalp. "It gets kinda blurry when I think of it. I'm sure someone told me somewhere…On a boat or something…"

When the syllables had left and stained Rikku's tongue, Wakka crossed his arms and a look of anxiety spread over his tanned features - making those features look awfully pale.

"Musta been some Al Bheds." Wakka's mouth had transformed into a very thin line all of a sudden. "They're always causin' trouble. But y'know we're gonna have to be EXTRA careful when we're going to Luca now. The Al Bhed are playing too y'know?"

Grimacing, Rikku rubbed her arms again guiltily - not to mention the fact that it had started to become cold because of the water of the waterfalls that was starting to spit at her angrily.

"I heard that the Al Bhed were good people…" Murmured Rikku dejectedly, not wishing to look at the redhead in fear of his reaction.

"Eh! I bet an Al Bhed told you that!" Wakka spat, wringing his fists in absolute fury - which made Rikku wish even more that she could disappear away from Wakka's questioning gaze. "Don't listen to them parasites Rikku, they don't look out for anyone but themselves."

_Eesh, this guy really doesn't like my kind at all…_

"I bet they were the ones that made Spira like this." Wakka spoke wretchedly, kicking the sand that was covering the gravel disconsolately. "Stupid Yevon-hating Al Bheds."

"Yeah. Al Bheds…" Rikku sighed, speeding up her walk to try and get rid of the subject of this Wakka hating Al Bheds.

"Ya. Stupid Al Bheds…" Wakka noticed that the girl had sped up when the talk had turned to Al Bhed's but honestly he didn't think anything of it. Most people he talked to was uncomfortable about the subject of the Al Bhed race, even the Guado didn't like talking about the Al Bheds and they were practically related in his opinion. Well, actually not really but…

Before Wakka could ask what was up with the blonde, he found himself looking at the back of the small blonde girl and was shocked at what he saw with his chocolate brown orbs.

"Rikku! Where'd you get them scars from?" Wakka said hurriedly, starting to jog so that he was now an arm's-length away from Rikku. "They need healing by a White Mage!"

Rikku didn't answer at first - mostly because she was trying to think of a way to tell Wakka where she'd gotten them from without sounding like a lunatic - yet after a few seconds of silence, shrugged her shoulders.

"Dunno. All I remember is Sinspawn clawing at my back before I passed out." Rikku glanced over her shoulder. "I was by Sin, remember?"

The blonde girl watched the reaction of the redhead eagerly, hoping that he wouldn't be suspicious of her story.

Instead, Wakka just rubbed the top of his cowlick. "Eesh, I'll need someone to bandage that up for you later. You've been through the wars Rikku."

With an embarrassed murmur, Rikku looked back over her shoulder, bathing in the ten minute silenced that followed.

When the ten minutes was up, Rikku felt that she needed to break the deafening silence that was starting to bore her to pieces.

"So…Not trying to be a snoop. But is she nice?" Rikku called from behind her shoulder again, crossing her index fingers together behind her back.

Wakka continued walking, slowing his pace a little so that he wouldn't have to rush his answer straight away by walking past the blonde girl.

"Who we talking about here Rikku?" Wakka asked the blonde girl softly, secretly wondering what he should do with the girl if she didn't find anyone in Luca…

The girl could always become Lu's guardian…She seemed fun and that's what Lulu needed. Fun.

"Sir Mamoru's daugher." Rikku spoke sweetly, her lips twitching up into a fiery grin which made the redheaded blitzer blush slightly. "I've heard about her a lot y'know? But I dunno if she's nice or who she even is."

"Oh!" Wakka gave his fellow blitzer a thumbs up on both of his hands, jogging forward so that he was now walking once more beside the girl. "You mean the summoner I'm guarding ya?"

Rikku nodded.

"Hah! Lulu? Yeah, she's alright." Wakka laughed yet Rikku was pleasantly shocked to hear the nervousness in the fully grown man's voice. "When you get to know her that is."

This time, Rikku _did_ laugh. A full proper laugh. The best laugh she had ever laughed since being in the world of Spira.

"Just alright?" Arching a delicate blonde eyebrow, Rikku watched how Wakka's features started to become mixed as if he was afraid of answering just in case she told this 'Lulu' about what they had been talking about.

"Uh…She's really pretty?" Wakka stuttered helplessly, his smile becoming even more edgier and anxious than before.

"Really?" Now Rikku was excited! "Will she let me braid her hair! I've got TONS of beads in my back pocket, lookity, look!" Rikku squealed, diving into her back pocket to bring out a whole bag of beads to shove into Wakka's face.

Wakka only took one look at the beads before breaking out into a huge grin. "Yeah, sure. I'm sure she'll love them."

Giggling and squealing some more, Rikku skipped ahead with a carefree smile twitching on her lips.

Wakka watched her go, feeling just a little bit mortified by his actions. "Let's just hope that she ain't afraid of thunder."

* * *

"Whoa!" Rikku stopped and stared at the most amazing village she had ever seen in her whole entire life.

Huts were scattered everywhere, some made of bark and wood whilst others were made of stone and minerals and all together…It made a very good mix to the village's outlandish exterior.

And the OCEAN! She could see it! She could see an ocean! Sure Zanarkand had sea's and all but an OCEAN.

"Impressive, ya?" Wakka came up beside her, eyeing his village with pride and satisfaction. "Welcome to Besaid."

Eyeing stone that was covering the floor of the village, Rikku was more than a little stunned to see that the stone of the village floor was made of granite and marble - which was pretty hard to come by back in Zanarkand and was also EXTREMELY expensive to buy.

"Impressive? Duh! It's AWESOME!" Rikku screeched, rushing forward so that she was just behind the walls that were blocking any wandering fiends away from the village, heart racing like a cheetah. "This place is where you and Lulu live?"

"Hey now, it's Sir Mamoru's daughter to you at the moment. You only get to call her Lulu AFTER you get to know her." Wakka corrected the blonde, nudging her side playfully. "And you bet it's our home! Cool ya?"

"Ya!" Rikku answered back with a smug grin, walking forward so that she was now just inside the village by a tiny step. "So…Where's Sir Mamoru's daughter then?"

Wakka walked past Rikku, patting her shoulder and pointing directly over what seemed to be a massive mansion kind of thing that she had seen in her Zanarkand.

"Righ' there. We'll go see her later ya? Righ' now though, you're hungry right?"

Rikku nodded immediately. Hell yeah, she was so hungry she could eat a really, really big chocobo.

Mentally scratching her head at the word that she had heard Yuna say (well that's where she thought she heard the word) Rikku shrugged the word away, whatever…She had just been around Yuna too much and she was picking up words, like a new born baby actually.

"Alrigh' then, to my hut!" Wakka declared, striding forward towards a rather large looking hut that was on the opposite side of what looked like to be a command post (the flag kind of gave it away to Rikku) with confidence in his steps.

However even if her stomach was aching like hell and she could do nothing to ease the ache apart from rub her stomach, Rikku still wanted to know what everything was so that she wouldn't look like a total idiot when she looked around later.

"HEY! You haven't shown me around yet!" Rikku complained with a pout, jogging forward a little with a hand over her stomach.

Wakka shrugged his shoulders at her. "I'm sure Lu can show you around…" Then before Rikku could ask why he was allowed to call her Lu when everyone else called her Lulu. Wakka grinned cheekily. "Just kiddin'. Show you around later. Food first."

Shaking her head, Rikku grabbed two ends of her beads and swirled them around her head like those venting fans that Lance had in his shop. "Typical of a male."

Wakka gave her a mock look of anger before grabbing her in a hold and doing an unmistakable noogie on her head. "Hey you! I'm offerin' ya food here! Show some respect blondie!"

Rikku growled, biting gently into the redhead's hand as she did so. "Get off already! Meanie! You're bigger than me and you're already hurting me again! BULLY!"

Once people had given them weird looks, Rikku and Wakka had retired to the Besaid Auroch's captain's hut, exhausted thanks to the fact that they had spent at least five minutes trying to beat each other up.

Practically collapsing on the bed - which obviously belonged to Wakka - Rikku lay sprawled on the soft surface of the quilt, out of breath and even more - if possible - hungrier than before she had been when she had been running after Wakka to try and kick the information out of the redhead about Zanarkand.

"Eesh. I'm hungry." Rikku yawned, turning onto her side so that she could snuggle up into the soft velvet of the cushions.

"I noticed. Anyway…If ya need me. I'm going to be in that building where Lu is so-"

"Why are _you_ allowed to call her Lu?" Rikku penetrated Wakka's sentence with her question, smirking slyly. "Ooh, do you fancy her or something?"

Wakka's eyes widened, his hands flexed out and he backed away from the still smirking Rikku. "Nah way Rikku! She's just my best friend ya? Well, one of 'em."

"Sure." Rikku replied, not believing the redhead ONE bit. "Sure, sure, sure…"

Sighing whilst rolling his eyes, Wakka pointed to something that looked like a giant pack of ice. "You'll find food in there. But for now I think you should sleep. Then eat. Then meet me up at that temple. Righ'?"

Wakka didn't even wait for a response, before Rikku could even protest that she hardly knew what to do…Wakka was already out the hut, whistling an odd familiar tune that Rikku just couldn't grasp on what it was.

With a grunt, Rikku slammed herself back onto the bed with an exasperated pout on her face. Great. She was sleepy, hungry and she had no idea what she was supposed to do after she ticked off the first two options.

Obviously she'd be going off to find Wakka but what if she bumped into someone and THEY recognized her heritage? She'd be pretty much screwed and then Wakka would probably send her straight back to where she came from - however, where that may be was a total mystery to her.

"I'm hungry…" Rikku announced to herself, pushing herself off Wakka's bed and creeping towards the bulky ice pack that lay just beside the couch that Wakka had set up for himself - seeming as she had stolen his bed to rest on - and was satisfyingly surprised to see that tons of sandwiches were resting in the pocket holes of the ice.

"Wakka sure knows how to eat." Rikku commented underneath her breath, grabbing two sandwiches before slugging her way back to where Wakka's bed was so that she could once more disintegrate onto it.

Biting into one of the sandwiches, Rikku let the soft calls of the birds in the sky lull her to shut her eyes tenderly, not wishing to force herself to sleep so that her eyes would ache when she woke up.

_Wonder how Lance is doing…Wonder if he's missing me and Auron…_ Rikku thought silently to herself, finishing off the last bit of her first sandwich and placing her other sandwich on an oval bowl that rested just below her feet at the end of Wakka's comfy bed.

Feeling the need to sleep taking over her senses, Rikku turned on her side so that she was facing the fabrics that was hanging up by strings on the hut, their different patterns making Rikku's mind lull to the precious sleep she needed.

* * *

"Hey…Kimahri?" Tidus nudged the blue feline in his ribs, making the Ronso look down disapprovingly at the blonde haired blitzer. "You have a bad feeling that Wakka's done something wrong?"

Kimahri didn't answer for a while. His face emotionless and his shoulders hunched dangerously as if he didn't really feel the need to answer Tidus's question at all. Yet being Kimahri…

"In Lulu's eyes. Wakka always does something wrong." Kimahri answered honestly, looking over his shoulder for a moment before returning his gaze towards Tidus once again. "Lulu does not blame Wakka. It is just. Hard."

Tidus nodded, folding his arms across his chest. "Yeah. I know."

* * *

Rikku's eyelids fluttered open, the sun blaring down on them because of a particular hole in the top corner of the hut's roof.

She'd forgotten what time it was when she went to sleep, all the same Rikku was sure that she hadn't slept for long - it was still light and the noisy old woman next door was still yelling at her little kid for sneaking around in the temples - and with that thought in her mind, Rikku moved so quickly off Wakka's bed that she almost tumbled over like she had at the beach.

"Ugh…" Rikku bent down so that the beaded hair that wasn't on top of her head, tickled her face in an attempt to wake her up from her the sleep that still filled both of her eyes. "What time is it?"

Glancing in every direction for a watch of some kind, Rikku was sourly disappointed to realize that Wakka didn't have a watch in his hut - how did that work? How did he know how to tell the time? - so the only thing she could do now was go find Wakka and hope that he hadn't gone off somewhere else because he'd gotten sick of waiting for her.

Rikku skipped out the hut, looking around the place once more, tilted her head to the side at how eerie quiet it was and proceeded to skip towards the large temple where Wakka had instructed to her that was where he'd be, waiting for her obnoxiously loud voice to penetrate his skull.

At first, Rikku thought that people were staring at her because she was new around here - that and they probably thought she was Wakka's new girlfriend or something stupid like that - then again Rikku's theory was driven to a sudden halt as she finally noticed that the gasps and the dirty looks she was receiving was because of the something that rested on her arm.

'_My Zanarkand Abes armguard!'_ Rikku mentally yelled at herself, yanking the guard off just to throw it into the bushes beside one of the temple's stone pillars that held the temple roof up. '_No wonder they were giving me the evil eyes! I practically had HOLY tattooed on my freaking arm!'_

Glancing behind her, Rikku was relieved to see that nobody had seen her throw her armguard away, but was also just a little bit annoyed at how an old woman and her granddaughter was following her with their squinted, narrowed - suspicious - eyes which if possible could burn holes right through her.

With an uncertain squeak, Rikku proceeded her way into the temple with her little skip plus jog - half wishing that people wouldn't keep staring at her and another part of her wondering WHY people were staring at her in the first place (apart from the fact that she had been wearing a Zanarkand armguard).

Once pushing the giant, heavy marble doors apart (with both of her hands may she add) Rikku was greeted by a woman's voice singing faintly in the background in addition to the singing Rikku found herself stunned at the familiarity of the song that was being sung.

Wakka had been whistling it, Auron used to murmur it sometimes underneath his breath and even she remembered humming it sometimes to try and get herself to sleep when she'd had a particularly bad day.

This was so weird. Rikku had a feeling (well knew) she was in a parallel universe or something, even so this was really too weird to describe the reason why that Hymn that she had listened to for so many years would suddenly appear in Spira so suddenly as if it was a way to try and remind her of something…

That Hymn had meant something to her one once. The song was so familiar and friendly yet whenever Rikku ever tried to cast her mind back towards the events she was trying to figure out, her mind instantly pushed down delete on her memories.

And that wasn't a very good feeling…Especially when you'd just ended up on a beach because of Sin attacking you and what made it even worse was the fact that she had no idea how she was going to get back to Zanarkand in addition to that, the nagging feeling that Rikku was getting was making her feel even more uneasy about Spira…In all honesty…It was very mystifying on how many things were related to her Zanarkand.

Rikku shook her head, slightly realizing that people were again staring at her for standing in a spot for so long - that and looking at thin air wasn't really helping her out here.

Giving the priests (the people in robes had to be priests right?) a bashful grin, Rikku proceeded to tiptoe around the temple in fear that if she put one foot out of line, then she'd immediately crash into something and would cause Wakka TONS of trouble for bringing an Al Bhed into Besaid. And that was NOT acceptable if she wanted to change Zanarkand to try and help Spira.

"Yo Rikku. What ya doing over there for?"

Rikku turned, removing herself from her hiding place (a large brass - well that's what it looked like to her - statue of some old dude) just to hide behind the statue once more when two priests stared directly into her eyes, glared and stalked off, arguing and giving her dirty looks as they went.

Watching them go, Rikku sighed and rolled her eyes. So they knew she was an Al Bhed but obviously they had put up with her being one seeming as they probably thought that Wakka knew her, meaning that they wouldn't slash her up into tiny pieces…Just yet anyway.

"Uh. Hiding." Rikku responded dryly, edging back towards the bronze statue that she had been hiding behind in the first place.

The Auroch's captain placed his right arm up in the air slightly so that his palm was just resting above his right ear, stepped forward so that he was right in front of the gigantic statue that was covering Rikku from most people and let out a great sigh.

"C'mon now. Nobody's gonna hurt you in here ya?" Wakka spoke with apprehension and obvious concern for the blonde girl, his eyes soft along with his tensed muscles that flexed with worry. "Sin's toxin is just playin' weird tricks on ya or something. Now c'mon. Step out so I can see ya annoying little face ya?"

At that Rikku practically jumped from behind the statue, her lower lip hung and her brows furrowed in a unimpressed grimace.

Wakka laughed quietly (it was a holy place after all) and shook his head at the unambiguous look of sulkiness that had washed over the blonde blitz ball player's face at his words. Obviously Rikku didn't approve at what he had just said so in response was acting like a moody teenager about it…

The blonde reminded Wakka of the other blonde that was waiting for him (along with Kimahri) just outside the Fayth's entrance, however, the blonde that was waiting for him wasn't most likely going to forgive him for being so late at arriving. Tidus. He's star blitz ball player and also best friend.

"Hey…Why's everyone praying to all these statues?"

Wakka felt himself refocus, his chocolate hues narrowing slightly at the blonde girl who was looking over his shoulder enquiringly at the many people praying to the High Summoner's and Priests.

Was this kid joking?

Pinching the bridge of his nose and letting out a long deep sigh, Wakka shook his head in frustration.

"Eesh…How long did you spend around Sin's toxin?" Wakka grumbled, wiping his face with the back of his hand only to stop once he discovered that Rikku was staring at her feet. A look of absolute dejection on her saddened features.

With another grumble - this time however it was mostly at himself - Wakka used his free hand to swipe at the air as if he was trying to bat away some irritating flies that was near his ears and eyes. "Alrigh', alrigh'. Sorry Rikku. I know you've had a hard time with Sin but I'll help you." He gave the still sad-looking blonde a pat on the shoulder along with a triumphant thumbs up. "Ya?"

In what seemed a matter of seconds, Rikku's face perked up and she had jumped up high in the air with a quiet 'yay!' before settling back down with a successful smirk on her face. "So you going to tell me or not?"

Wakka's face dropped at the sudden change of the blonde in front of him. Hyper meds were going to be needed on their trip so it would seem if Lulu agreed to allow the blonde girl to travel with them to Luca.

Regaining his composition after a few seconds of silence, Wakka pointed at the statue that Rikku and him were standing by. "These are the people who died defeating Sin." An unbelievable joyous smile graced his lips. "These were the people who did everything to make the world how it is today. May not be perfect but nothing can be perfect until Sin is finally gone ya?"

Rikku nodded, turning slowly so that she could study most of the statues that were all lined up in one massive circle that surrounded both her and Wakka with a stone expression etched on each brass face.

"Summoners ya? Y'know that guy over there?" Wakka was pointing again nonetheless this time he was pointing at a rather particular small brass statue that was what looked like the opening statue to welcome visitors to the temple of Besaid. "That guy right _there_."

Tilting her head at the redhead with uncertainty, Rikku glanced back towards the tiny brass statue and nodded. "Uh. Yeah?"

Wakka nudged her shoulder slightly, sending Rikku forward so that she was now just directly beside the statue that both she and Wakka had been staring at intently. "That's Sir Mamoru."

At the realization at the man, Rikku's mouth dropped open like she had just been told to say 'ahh' by her local doctor.

"Originally he wasn't supposed to be in the temple but Sir Mamoru is such a well-known guardian that people told all the temples that they must have Sir Mamoru looking over the temple." Wakka explained lightly, smiling proudly to himself as if it was _his_ father instead of Lulu's. "He looks a bit like Lu…But Lu follows after her mom more than anything."

Gaping at the imaginative detail, Rikku took a step forward so that her face was almost pressed up fully against the bronze face of Sir Mamoru. Her eyes were wide and interested as she stared at the soulless eyes and humourless expression of Sir Mamoru's statue, adoration and admiration deep within her swirled green eyes - which Wakka still hadn't noticed just yet.

"He looks angry at something." Rikku whispered, spinning around so that she was now standing on the other side of Sir Mamoru's statue. "Was he always angry or is it just the statue?"

Wakka stared at the blonde girl in wonder. Nobody had questioned how the people of Spira designed things before so this was a surprise and now knowing that somebody had questioned Spira's design and was wondering why…Why? Did all the victims of Sin's toxin act so…suspiciously?

"No…" Wakka murmured morosely, lowering his lids so that he could just about see Rikku's face clearly without straining his sight. "Sir Mamoru was a happy man. Nobody really knows why he was sculptured like that."

Arching a disbelieving brow, Rikku let her index finger run freely over the dents of Sir Mamoru's upset sculptured face with a frown on her face. "Well, okay then…" She let her finger move away from the bronze brass. "If you say so."

Sniffing at the remark, Wakka glanced warily over at the stone slab that would lead him to where the other guardians - and most likely Lulu - would be waiting for him with disapproving expressions on their faces for him being so late.

He had to get going. He just needed to tell Rikku to stay here until he came back with the others in tow.

When he just was about to turn to tell the blonde girl to wait for him in the temple for a few hours, Wakka was graced with the sight of Rikku staring once more at the people praying in addition to that Wakka knew that an on come of questions was going to be fired at him in every direction.

"Aren't they doing the blitz ball sign of victory to them statues of the summoners?" Rikku scratched the side of her right eye, a bewildered look on her face at the praying that priests and civilians alike was performing to these brass summoners. "Uh. They are aren't they? Did I get that right?"

Wakka didn't sigh, he knew that Rikku had been gotten by Sin's toxin and with knowing that information…He just didn't feel the need to complain about the girl hardly knowing anything about Spira anymore.

"No. That's Yevon's prayer. It's what the people of Yevon do to greet each other." Wakka explained leisurely, eyeing the slab that kept him from the Cloister of Trials warily. "Many people perform Yevon's prayer. Especially to really important people ya?"

Rikku nodded understandingly. Yevonites did Yevon's prayer. Yep, she got it. Except that it still left her with one question that was now starting to bug her like a killer headache.

"Do Al Bhed people do Yevon's prayer or do they have their own prayer or something?" Whispered Rikku, glancing over her shoulders to see if any snoopy priests were listening into her conversation with the redhead.

In what appeared to be about half a second, Wakka's impatient expression had turned into a look of complete rage. "Who cares ya? All those Al Bhed care about are themselves. They don't believe in Yevon's teachings…" The Auroch's captain shrugged. "And who would want them if they did huh?"

Hesitantly, Rikku let a pathetic smile creep up onto her features, making her mouth strain in terrible pain at how many times she had been fake smiling today thanks to Wakka's talk about Al Bheds and such.

'_Eesh…If Yunie was here she'd of gutted me for being so weak and not standing up for myself…'_ Rikku thought quietly with a depressed grunt that had somehow managed to escape her mouth at her silent thoughts.

"Well…Gotta go and see if Lu and the others are alright." Wakka broke Rikku's trail of thought suddenly, his whistling making Rikku's head jerk up and an irritated growl to escape her parted chapped lips. "See if she's coming out of the Chamber of The Fayth ya?"

"Why do I have the feeling you expect me to wait for you here…" Crossing her arms and then folding them behind her head so that she had her very own human pillow, Rikku scowled at the redhead.

"Uh. Because only guardians are allowed inside the Cloister?" Wakka answered her, a smug grin on his thin lips at the look of absolute defeat that had swum all over Rikku's features.

"No way! I wanna come!" Rikku argued, stomping her foot so hard that she heard and felt it _echo_ horribly loudly. "I demand to come!"

"Shush! Shush!" Wakka brought a finger to his lips, trying in desperation to try and get the blonde to shut up so that the priests and others would stop shooting evil looks in their direction. "Be quiet a bit ya?"

Rikku instantly stopped at his request but by all means, didn't look very happy about it.

"C'mon Rik, I'm not allowed to take you with me. And Lu might even get in trouble if you come with-" Wakka was cut short however by one long index finger and a contagious giggle that could only belong to Rikku.

"I'll just say I was dazed and confused and just stumbled into the Cloister after you." Rikku winked wickedly at him at that. "RIGHT?"

"No." Wakka disagreed, shaking his head whilst at the same time as trying to hide his own grin. "That won't work. It'd still be my fault for letting you follow me."

Rikku's eyes widened in desperation. She needed to get into that Cloister without being detected and without Wakka feeling too guilty but whenever she tried to think of something, it ended up being absolutely crap and wasn't even worth thinking about at all.

"Y'know Wakka…" Rikku said suddenly, a wry smirk appearing on her apprehensive-looking features. "You're right. There's no point in trying right?"

Not even beginning to vacillate at the blonde's words, Wakka nodded confidently. "No point at all. You'll just be thrown out and probably fed to some hungry Al-HEY! RIKKU!" Wakka finished off his sentence with a startled roar, rushing after the blonde girl who was already dancing her way past the slab of stone that was covering her and Wakka away from the Cloister of Trials.

Once Wakka had stepped forward into the Cloister, the slab of stone that had opened freely at both of their entrances slammed shut with a sharp thud which made both him and Rikku jump half a foot into the air.

"Rikku!" Wakka growled sharply underneath his breath, clenching both of his hands into fists to try and regain control over his thick anger which clouded his mind like smog. "Don't you know what's going to happen if they find out you're not a guardian?"

Only at that sentence did Rikku show any remorse of her actions, quickly turning around to show the redhead the obvious look of guilt and shock planted onto her face.

"Lu will be banished from being a summoner!" Wakka shook his head in fury, wishing that he'd just gone without waiting for the blonde to wake up to find him in the temple.

"But they won't find out!" Rikku retorted, her face scrunched up in agitation at the redhead. "Only if you tell them, duh!"

Wakka's head snapped back at that, his lower lip hanging open. Apparently Wakka himself hadn't thought of that or he hadn't really thought about defying the temples (or Yevon) when he obviously had been a follower of Yevon and its rules for years on end.

"Right!" Rikku giggled, skipping further into the granite Cloister that surrounded them both. "Glad that you can see it my way!"

At those parting words, Wakka had no choice, other than to follow Rikku further into the Cloister.

* * *

"Kimahri…" Tidus spoke gently even if there was nobody there but themselves, he still felt the need to speak as quiet as possible.

The Ronso nodded solemnly, his muscles tensing with worry and a growl making his lips shudder and tremble. "Lulu gone a long time. Kimahri worried."

Tidus nodded in agreement, wrapping his arms around his shoulders in an attempt to warm himself from the icy thoughts that were beginning to corrupt his mind. "Yeah, me too. D'you think it's just because of the Fayth?"

Kimahri didn't answer for a long time - such a long time in fact that when Kimahri finally answered, it made Tidus jump.

"Lulu has become Summoner." The blue furred-feline tapped the side of his head with his right index finger. "Kimahri knows. Kimahri can tell by Lulu's long absence. Fayth has weakened Lulu at precise moment. But Fayth make Lulu strong soon enough."

The blonde blitz ball player murmured quietly underneath his breath, not really finding the words to be able to reply to the serene-looking Ronso next to him.

"Kimahri feels change coming."

Tidus gave the Ronso a side-long glance, an awkward - not to mention crooked - frown appearing on his features. "Huh? What ya mean?"

Pointing a finger on his left hand towards the heavens, Kimahri observed the ceiling of the temple with watchful eyes.

"Kimahri feels different. Kimahri does not know why. The skies are changing. Kimahri…Confused at these changes." Kimahri bowed his broken horned head down so that the bridge of his nose bristled at the different scent that was starting to make its way towards them from the Cloister of Trials.

"What do you smell?" Tidus questioned the Ronso on his bristled nose instantly. Whatever Kimahri was smelling, it didn't look good by the way that the Ronso's muscles were flexing in what could only be described as disgust.

The feline's ears twitched and folded back as if he was listening to something quite intently.

"What are you listening to?" The blonde asked, nudging the Ronso's shoulders with both of his hands in an attempt to try and get the feline to listen to him. "Kimahri? Seriously what are you-"

A fierce, shuddering growl brought Tidus to a halt. "Al Bhed. Wakka. A young Al Bhed girl."

Blinking with shock at the news, Tidus glanced behind his shoulder at the wooden shield that blocked them away from the Cloister. "An Al Bhed?"

"A perplexed Al Bhed girl." Kimahri corrected, his body still shuddering due to the thought of an Al Bhed coming with Wakka towards the Chamber of the Fayth. "She has, by the beat of her heart, absolute fear. For what. Kimahri does not know."

"Scared?" Tidus shrugged sluggishly. "I guess I can see why if she's with Wakka. She might be scared that he'll beat the crap out of her or something y'know?"

A rumble came from Kimahri's lips, mixed between a growl and hunger - it had been over a day since Lulu had went into the Chamber of the Fayth and for her to be gone this long meant that both Kimahri and Tidus felt worried about Lulu's safety. They knew that the Fayth would never hurt Lulu but still…Something had happened in the Chamber, they could both feel the change yet had no explanation on what the change was.

"Wakka. May not like Al Bheds. But. Wakka will not hurt Al Bhed girl." All of a sudden after his own words, Kimahri started to walk swiftly forward towards the Chamber as if he suddenly had a sugar rush and before Tidus could even think about asking the feline what he was doing, the Ronso plonked himself down on the third step.

"Kimahri does not feel well." Kimahri explained with that one sentence, refusing to look at Tidus anymore. "Kimahri…Feels weak."

Tidus peered more closely at the Ronso's face, his eyes narrowed and squinted so that he could look more clearly into Kimahri's furry face.

"Is the Al Bhed girl a threat?" Tidus spoke in a voice very unlike his own. Solemn and slow as if he was at a sending. "Is she a threat to Lulu?"

* * *

"Lookity! We've got a globe kinda thing!" Rikku squealed, weighing the orb gently in her hand so that it was just below her nose. "Right Wakka? Globe kinda thing?"

The Aurochs captain gave Rikku a look which clearly stated that he was more than a little freaked out by the blonde's actions nevertheless he answered her question without hesitation.

"It's a Besaid Sphere Rikku. We'll need that for later." Wakka opened his palm, pressing his arm forward towards Rikku. "Pass it over. I'll keep it safe just in case you trip or something like that ya?"

Rikku glanced down at the blue sphere for a moment, her swirled eyes getting lost in its captivating light. It was so beautiful. Something that her Zanarkand could never have even if they tried.

"Eh, Rikku. Can I have the sphere or what?" Wakka's rough and edgy voice broke the Al Bhed girl away from the entrancing blue illumination that had clouded her mind a few moments ago.

"Uh, yeah!" Rikku pushed the sphere into Wakka's hands hastily, stepping back from the light to try and get rid sphere. "Uh, yeah, yeah…"

Wakka gazed down sharply at the blue sphere, his chocolate hues softening at the familiar light that bathed his skin in a cerulean blue. "I know what ya mean. Kinda feels like ya under a spell ya?"

Uncertainly Rikku nodded, her eyes flickering all around the room…Anywhere. Anything. Just not the enchanting light that seemed to somehow make her heart beat fast and blood to pump venomously inside her veins.

"Weird…But that's just the Fayth's thrall in a way." Wakka explained with a shrug, gripping the Besaid Sphere tightly in his right fist. "Don't worry about it, you aren't the first one to go a bit funny after looking at these Spheres."

With a little tilt of her head, Rikku stepped back so that she was leaning against the left wall to let the Auroch's captain through. So far they had been in the Cloister for about five minutes getting past the first obstacle (which hadn't been hard, it was just the fact that she, Rikku, had kept Wakka busy talking all the way through getting past the pendulum).

Right now though, Rikku was just letting Wakka do all the work. She had no choice after all. If she tried to find her way around the Cloister, she'd most likely damage something and Wakka would be the blame for letting her in with him anyway so if she wanted to stay on Wakka's _good_ side then she might as well shut up and listen to him for a while.

"Almost done Rikku…" Wakka murmured almost inaudibly underneath his breath, his head lowered while at the same time both of his hands were moving at such incredible speed that Rikku had no idea what the redhead was doing.

With a slight pout, Rikku left Wakka to his own devices.

'_I dunno what I'm supposed to do now but wait until Wakka finishes this Cloister.' _Rikku thought to herself, rocking on the heels of her feet to try and distract herself a little. _'Hey, now that I think about it…Didn't Yunie say that there was an Al Bhed around here in Besaid?'_

A grin reappeared on her face. Yes! Yunie _had_ said that! And she had said that this Al Bhed was _spying_ on Lulu and her pilgrimage…But Yunie hadn't particularly said who the Al Bhed was and even if Yunie had…Rikku would have no idea who her cousin was talking about in the first place.

'_That Al Bhed…If I find who it is…Then they'll take me to Luca right without Wakka and the others.'_ Rikku tapped her chin thoughtfully. _'But I can't let Wakka down, especially when he's counting on me.'_

'Hmming' and 'Uhmming', Rikku rocked on her heels and swung her arms around like a protestor would until she had finally felt that she had cleared the air of silence enough for now.

'_But…What if Yunie suddenly comes and then that Tidus kid recognises her? Then he suddenly shouts out she's an Al Bhed? What then?' _Rikku teased her blonde tresses with her dainty fingers, looking to her left and then to her right to see if Wakka was watching her obviously suspicious movements.

Nope. Still working on the Cloister. Good. With this time that had been practically given to her, Rikku could form a quick plan if she managed to find someone at Luca which could lead her to her Pops, Yuna or even better, Auron.

'_Well if I find Yunie, she could lead me to Pops and if my Pops knows Auron, then maybe he could tell me where Auron is.'_ To pass the time, Rikku started to jog to and fro from both ends of the long Cloister tunnel. '_With Auron's help he could get me back to my Zanarkand. He's done so before right? I mean he doesn't even belong in my Zanarkand. Yunie said that he was a guardian…So that can only mean Auron used to be here before I was even born or something. Right? Obviously Rikku, you moron. You've already told yourself this two billion times before.'_

'_Yeah, yeah. Somethin' like that…'_ Rikku stopped her jogging, now truly bored thanks to her finished thinking schedule of what to do once she got to Luca and found someone she knew - however even if she hadn't made a plan for what would happen if she DIDN'T find someone she knew, Rikku had decided that she'd had enough of thinking for the day.

"You done Wakka?" The blonde called over her shoulder, turning so that she could bounce over to where the hunched Wakka was with the Besaid Sphere being placed nicely into a slot in front of the redhead.

"Just a little more and I will be." Wakka replied with a grunt, now wedging the blue sphere harder in before. "Oh ya, did I tell you we're going to Kilika just before Luca? I didn't, did I?"

Rikku crossed her arms against the back of her head, her smile which had been so cheery before going stiffer than Auron's back. "No, you didn't."

In response, the Auroch's captain shrugged. "Well, now you know ya?"

The Al Bhed girl snorted, tilting her head up so that she was staring directly at the blue lights of the Cloister and now that she thought about it…The lights were oddly comforting in this distressing situation.

"Eesh. Thanks." Rikku murmured sleepily, her eyes drooping at the lights that was so bright yet so dull in the almost inaudible Cloister.

Before Rikku could most likely collapse in a heap due to the lights, an almighty bang resounded through the Cloister which did nothing but make the blonde Al Bhed step back a few steps, startled out of her conscious dreams.

"Alright!" Wakka cheered, standing up from his kneeling position to place both of his hands on the wooden doors that blocked him and Rikku from the Chamber where most likely awaited his other friends. "All done! C'mon Rikku!"

Despite the fact that she had indeed been scared out of her wits, this didn't stop Rikku from being overjoyed at the fact that now the Cloister was over and done with she could wait with Wakka (and his other friends presumably) until Lulu returned from the Chamber of the Fayth - whatever that was. Something about becoming a summoner…Whatever Wakka said.

With a grin, Rikku bounced after the redhead, pushing the wooden doors out of her way so that all she could see was the moving back of Wakka and two stiff forms that hadn't turned to face her just yet…

So this was the Chamber?

* * *

Tidus stiffened at the two pairs of feet that at the moment, sounded like explosions coming towards his and Kimahri's direction.

He wasn't scared (on the contrary) thanks to Kimahri's reassurance that this Al Bhed girl had nothing against Lulu and by the way of her heart and smell wasn't going to try and attack Lulu or them anytime soon.

But as Kimahri had said…Something just wasn't right about this Al Bhed girl's presence, something that just didn't quite fit as if the girl came from another world.

Another universe entirely.

"Wow! This place is HUGE!" A gasp that could only belong to the blonde Al Bhed resounded off the walls, making both Tidus and Kimahri wince at how loud it was to their rather sensitive ears.

"Uh guys…" Wakka had tapped both Kimahri and Tidus on the shoulder, signalling them to let him explain before they could yell at him for bringing a non-guardian into the Cloister of Trials and Chamber with him. "Could we just go over to that corner over there? I can explain it ALOT better over there."

On the other hand, Tidus - who knew exactly what his best friend had most likely been up to - stared directly at the blonde Al Bhed girl that was staring at Kimahri was if he was the largest chocobo she'd ever seen in her whole life.

"Wakka, who the hell is she?" Tidus glared at the redhead, his left leather glove making a horrible squirming noise as it tightened over his skin.

Rikku looked at the blonde man that was standing just a few inches away from her with a look of complete innocence. This wasn't her problem after all.

"Y'see, I'm trying to explain this to you but you can't just go accusing me of ME bringing her in here…" Wakka explained astonishingly slow for something that wasn't really a calm situation. "She might have just followed me in here y'know?"

"I know you and I trust Kimahri's nose more than anything." Tidus responded, shaking his head at Wakka's half-hearted reply. "So don't start lying to me. Have you any idea what might happen if they find out?"

Kimahri remained silent towards the argument that was about to break out, only moving his golden hues to look down at the still forever curious Al Bhed girl that was on her tip toes trying to stoke his ears as if he was some sort of pet.

"Kimahri no pet." The feline growled, his chest shuddering threateningly at the blonde girl who's swirled eyes widened in fear and the speed of her heart increased dramatically. "Kimahri Ronso."

Rikku jumped back, her index finger pointed straight at Kimahri as if she was ready to scratch the bridge of his nose. "Oh my god! It talked! Wakka!" She jumped up and down this time, trying to catch the redhead's attention. "WAKKA! Look! It talked! Holy Shiva it TALKED!"

Wakka sighed at the sight before him, earning himself another disapproving look from Tidus. "Look…I know what it looks like. But you just GOTTA hear me out this time." Wakka moaned, thrashing his arms down so that it looked like he was pleading to an almighty god - which in this case, he was if Tidus was counted as a god at this exact moment.

"You brought a non-guardian into the Cloister of Trials!" Tidus exclaimed, his voice that had been surprisingly low (even when he had been so heatedly seething at the redhead) starting to go higher and higher as he went on with his rant. "There's no point of you trying to explain to me when everything is perfectly clear!"

"Hellloooo? IT talked!" Rikku exclaimed, walking in-between the squabbling pair with her arms up high. "That blue cat talked! And you're just going to quarrel over something as stupid as me being here?"

In those few seconds, the blonde guardian stared directly at the…Aggravating Al Bhed in front of his cobalt hues, his stare turning into a deep, furious scowl which penetrated Rikku's very soul at how…Incensed it was towards her body.

"Hey, not trying to be rude or anything. But who are you?" Tidus's eyes coasted themselves down Rikku's form. "Where do you even come from?"

"Uh…" Rikku scratched her chin thoughtfully. "Sin's toxin got to me. Duh? Right Wakka?"

Wakka let out a groan, slumping so that his knees and palms just barely skimmed the holy ground they obviously walked upon. "SEE! That's what I've been trying to tell you all along!"

"Sin's toxin?" Tidus whispered morosely, looking deep within the swirled emerald eyes more closely than he had been before. No. This girl was obviously lying. She was just… different. Not sick.

Nonetheless, Tidus decided it was best not to say anything at all just in case Wakka did lose it that he had somehow believed this Al Bhed girl about Sin's toxin draining her memory.

"YEAH!" Rikku suddenly yelled out, wishing to break the tension between them all once and for all with her loudness. "Gee! That toxin does weird stuff to your brain I mean really, who just forgets where they come from - AEEH!"

A rumble from Kimahri silenced Rikku from her little well-deserved rant, making them all look up to see that Kimahri had stepped forward towards the opening of the wooden shield that by the looks of the yellow haze that was starting to pour in from behind the wood was starting to crack wide open.

"Lulu." Kimahri said bluntly, his furry muscles tightening and his tail that had been pointed straight up in the air now drooped so that it hit the blue cat's heels.

Rikku spun around at those words, looking directly where all three of her companions were with wide and attentive eyes. Lulu. This was the moment she'd been waiting for. Waiting for the moment that she'd be able to lay her sea green swirled eyes on the famous Sir Mamoru's daughter…

If it was possible, Rikku felt her eyes widen even more than they had been a few moments ago.

This was Sir Mamoru's daughter?

"Whoa…" Rikku breathed out unsteadily, unknowingly making the blonde man who had been interrogating her stare at her closely for a moment before returning his gaze back towards the approaching figure of none other than Lulu.

This girl, no this _woman_ stumbled forward slightly with a hand tracing up her collarbone to rest just on her temple in what looked like to be a calming gesture to herself.

Lulu threw her head to one side, making her beads and trinkets that was braided deep within her dark chocolate tresses clink gently against each other whilst using her other hand that wasn't resting on her temple to swipe away the sticky bits of hair that clung to her collarbone and the back of her neck.

The elegance of this woman made Rikku's mouth dry. Seriously…Rikku felt her lower lip tremble at how Lulu's cerise eyes fluttered open so droopily that it sent shivers up Rikku's spine.

The skin tight dress that clung to Lulu (and not to mention her cleavage) like a second skin made Rikku suddenly feel like she was being just a bit of pervert staring so openly at Sir Mamoru's daughter - not that how low Lulu's dress was over her bust helped - yet Rikku found that she couldn't help but stare and gape like a goldfish that had just run out of water.

Eyeing the grey fur that ran over the outline of Lulu's dress, Rikku couldn't help herself, taking a step forward once more, totally ignoring the fact that both Wakka and the other blonde was staring at her as if she had somehow asked them mentally if they were from Zanarkand…

'_This is Sir Mamoru's DAUGHTER?'_ Rikku mentally screeched at herself, feeling her stomach wriggle uncomfortably in a way she had never experienced before with anyone. '_She's…so beautiful.'_

Nevertheless just before Rikku could do, say or think anything more…The feline beside her sprinted forward, his arms outstretched and just in the nick of time to catch the tumbling woman in his secure, tight arms.

Silence passed over them all for a few moments, the only sound was the blue cat's arms brushing against the leather of what looked like to be a thousand belts that was wrapped around Lulu's legs in a defensive position.

A gasp tumbled from Rikku's lips far too late, drawing nothing but the intensive stare of crimson hues towards her direction.

They were oddly alluring in their own way. The specks of pink and red made Lulu's passionate orbs dance wildly every time her iris moved. Her eyes on the other hand was nothing compared to Lulu's, so beautiful and so powerful.

It struck Rikku dumb at how compassionate and hot-blooded they were compared to her simple swirled ones yet when Lulu's eyes finally fell onto her own…Rikku had never felt so stuck in time in all her nineteen years of living.

"I did it. I have become a summoner." Lulu spoke with such a quiet but authoritative voice, her eyes never leaving Rikku not even when the blue feline patted Lulu's shoulder circumspectly.

Tidus watched his friend quietly, examining how Lulu's eyes seemed to flex, relax then soften instantly in just a matter of moments…Was Lulu looking at what he thought she was looking at?

Glancing at the shocked Al Bhed girl next to Kimahri, Tidus couldn't help but feel his insides turn ice cold at the looks being exchanged between the new summoner and this confused Al Bhed girl who had in a matter of seconds stumbled into all of their lives with her hyperactive aura.

All was lost. And Tidus…Couldn't do anything about it. He had never seen such a look in Lulu before apart from when she had seen Chappu the first time however even now, the look…It wasn't so intense, so curious, so tempting…Tidus couldn't stand the look that he hadn't seen in years.

Even Wakka was entranced by Lulu's refinement, his chocolate hues dilating at the image of his friend, bedraggled thanks to the Fayth's kind beating of entering her very soul…

But Rikku?

She was absolutely paralyzed.


	5. Chapter 4

_Chapter focuses mostly around Lulu and Rikku talk, Rikku finding out the reason why there is tension between Wakka and Lulu and finally Rikku's scars are healed in the most pleasant ways._

CHAPTER 4

_-x-_

_I got healed physically that night when Lulu walked out of that Cloister_

_But I had yet to find out by myself that_

_At the very end of my journey, at the very end of it_

_I healed Lulu completely._

_-x-_

"Praise be to Yevon!" The priests that had gathered around the exit out of the Chamber cried out with enthusiasm, performing Yevon's prayer almost immediately once Lulu, Rikku and the others had appeared. "Welcome Summoner Lulu! We hope your pilgrimage will go well!"

Warily, Rikku hid behind Wakka's left arm just in case the priests caught her eye and suddenly started yelling at them all for letting an Al Bhed on Yevonite territory or something predatorily like that.

From the corner of her swirled eyes, Rikku glanced curiously at the woman that had stolen her breath and had also done the impossible of making her heart beat faster than usual. Lulu. Sir Mamoru's daughter. She was rather exquisite, yet intense so that it looked like Rikku was looking up at the goddess Aphrodite.

Strangely enough though the actions of what followed because of what she, Rikku, was, made Rikku shiver uncertainly at the aura that had began to encase Lulu's very form with its invisible cloak.

Lulu moved closer to Wakka, her arms hanging freely at her sides whilst her hips were just twisted to the left as if the summoner was trying to - and at this thought, Rikku's eyes widened - block Rikku from view as well!

"Thank you. I am sure my pilgrimage will go more than satisfactory…If not for my sake, then for Spira's."

There it was again, that velvet, relentless and most enrapturing voice Rikku had ever been so lucky to hear…So lucky yet so unworthy that Rikku felt herself cower childishly against Wakka's back.

"That is what we wanted to hear Lady Lulu." A female spoke out, her tone so serious that Rikku had to stop herself from snorting at the female's obvious 'enjoyment'. "We are delighted to know that your quest to become a summoner has succeeded so well."

Rikku watched warily as Lulu nodded, the summoner's eyes casting down on her own for a moment before flickering back towards the direction of the priests.

"I am glad to bring the people of Besaid this enjoyment." Lulu bowed her head slowly, her fingers flexing as she did so. "For now I will hope to go to the people of Besaid and show them my…"

Without one hint of hesitation, a advantageous smirk plastered itself on Lulu's mauve lips. "Success. As you so rightly put it."

"Of course."

At that, Rikku blushed freely. So she was the only one who was affected by Lulu's voice.

Maybe it was because these people sorta knew Lulu and she didn't know Lulu at all so that meant that she would probably get used to Lulu's sultry voice after? Right? Yes, right. She'd soon be able to face Lulu without blushing like a freaking fan girl, when however she wasn't so sure.

Letting her eyes wander to look around once more at the brass statues that surrounded them all in a dark circle, Rikku didn't notice the arm that had wrapped around her shoulder and had pushed her in front.

Eyes wide, Rikku glanced behind her to see that the summoner was staring down at her, wordlessly studying her whole body with assertive cerise hues that seemed to swim every time Lulu's pupil moved.

_What is she doing? She's pushing me in front of these priests and all she can do is stare at me? Eep! They're going to look at me weird! I know it!_

A gasp followed by a few grumbles filled the air and in addition to the noise, Rikku covered her head with her arms in a self defensive position.

"Lady Lulu! Isn't that girl an A-" The female that had commented on Lulu's success spoke up anxiously, however was cut short by Lulu waving her hand in dismissal just in front of Rikku's eyes.

"She is with me." Lulu spoke with an odd tint of seriousness and demanding, her front stiffening against Rikku's back. "Is that a problem?"

"But Lady Summoner! She's a parasite!" Another priest broke out, his eyes equally as wide as his female companion at the thought of having someone like Rikku next to someone as important as Lulu.

"Please do not use such words." Lulu cut across the priest once again, one slim hand resting on Rikku's shoulder. "She is with me as I have already said. And with that, as a summoner. I ask of you to apologize for even thinking about calling her such a ridiculous name."

"Lulu-" Tidus was about to protest, stepping forward with both of his hands lifted up to his waist.

"Do not, Tidus." Lulu spoke softly, her orbs flittering over cerulean blue for a moment before settling back down onto the scene below.

"We cannot apologize Lady Summoner." The female priest bowed solemnly, a frown on her features. "For there is nothing to apologize for."

Rikku let her arms fall at the squeeze she received on her shoulder, glimpsing behind her to see yet again Lulu was looking intensely at her as if she was the most fascinating thing ever created.

Flushing incredibly at the look, Rikku hugged herself to try and get rid of the unsavoury sensations that was starting to make her stomach wriggle and twirl uncomfortably.

"I am sorry you feel that way. However I hope, even if my companions aren't as…" Lulu paused for a moment and Rikku could imagine the pleasing tilt of Lulu's mauve lips. "Matched to your standards. I hope it won't hurt your opinion of how I do on my pilgrimage."

"Of course not Lady Summoner!" The female priest spluttered pathetically, performing Yevon's prayer once more towards Lulu. "We did not mean to berate. We are only looking in the best of Yevon."

Feeling even more feeble than she had done before, Rikku looked down imperceptibly at her shoes to try and cut away everything around her so that she wouldn't have to worry about what was happening with Lulu and these aggravating priests.

Lulu nodded once, pressing down hard on the blonde Al Bhed girl's shoulders to make her move forward down the cobble steps to pass through the wave of priests that had started to look at both her and Rikku with looks of furious confusion and uncertain animosity. Altogether, this wasn't the best way to start her pilgrimage but Lulu would just not allow for these priests to walk all over this innocent Al Bhed girl like dirt.

Her guardians followed her, their steps not hesitating but in fact walking with determined pride that they were now the guardians of a new, well-prepared summoner with a long journey ahead of them.

This was clear. At least there was something good coming out of this, something that didn't cloud Lulu's mind with worry. And that was good enough for her.

The Temple doors closed behind them all as soon as Kimahri's right foot had stood beside his left, swinging with a well-structured bang that made the diminutive (yet so strong) body beneath her hands shudder and jump at the noise.

"It's alright." Lulu found herself leaning down slowly, her lips accidentally brushing against the thin skin of the Al Bhed girl's ear. "You don't have to worry about anything now. We'll talk later. I promise."

Releasing the Al Bhed girl's shoulders, Lulu sidestepped the girl to walk forward so that she was now standing beside Tidus (who's face was formed into a hard grimace).

Rikku on the other hand, was sort of (kind of) finding it hard to breathe thanks to such a easily hidden graze of soft, mauve lips against her now tingling right ear.

Letting her hand cup the tip of her right ear, Rikku let her eyes wander to the back of Lulu, swirled eyes twirling in engrossed aspiration. Had Lulu really just done that to her ear?

'_I'm gonna faint. I'm gonna faint! My face is all hot and my palms are getting really sweaty and - FOR GOD'S SAKE RIKKU. Get a grip you moron!_' Rikku yelled at herself, purposely flicking herself in the forehead in an attempt to refocus herself. '_It's not as if you haven't had someone done that to you before you idiot!'_

Then again. None of them had been a woman before. But then again, Lulu had done what she had in a matter of concern, not intimately…So why was she getting so worked up about it?

Grabbing her two beads, Rikku yanked them gently to try and get rid of the preposterous thoughts that was making her feel even dizzier than she had when Lulu had been right next to her ear.

"Lady Summoner!" Two squeaky yells broke Rikku away from her thoughts, making the blonde and the others look down to see that two young girls were starting to race towards Lulu with bright smiles on their faces. "Lulu!"

Their smiles…Were weirdly contagious. As they ran, Rikku felt her own lips twitch into a smile at the happy aura that was basically sprouting off these two girls, wishing that she herself could be as young and as free as these two adorable little girls who was basically worshipping Lulu like a god.

Rikku watched closely as Lulu kneeled down on both of her knees (leather belts straining in protest at such a movement) and both of her arms were open wide enough and just in the nick of time to receive two very strong embraces from each child.

"Hello Jen, Sophia." The summoner nodded at both of the two girls, a warm smile appearing on her usual cold features. "It looks like you two are one of the first to greet a new summoner such as myself."

"You betcha!" One of them cried again, hugging the new summoner tightly around the neck. "Can't believe you did it! I mean of course we knew you would but y'know what I'm saying right?"

With a slight chuckle, the morose-looking summoner nodded. "Of course. Of course. Don't try and correct yourself. I like the definition you've come up with."

"Lulu." The blue feline spoke up abruptly, pushing past Wakka and the startled Rikku to proceed walking down the Temple of Besaid steps in the direction of the middle of the village where a celestial looking circle had been drawn in yellow paste. Tidus not so far behind him.

"Oh." Lulu looked up, her eyes dismissing the girls so swiftly that Rikku only blinked and the two girls were gone before her very eyes. "I'm coming Kimahri."

'_Am I the only one who is just a bit freaked out that a giant cat can talk? I mean what the - she's looking at me again…'_ Rikku thought, giving Lulu a sidelong glance with an awkward crooked smile on her lips in hope to try and stop the summoner looking at her as if she was some sort of new creation or something weird like a new shampoo for your eyes.

Cerise orbs softened for a moment, expanding then declining before starting the process all over again with much more force than before.

'_It looks like she's…Checking me out! Or something like that! She just won't stop staring at me! Have I got something on my face?'_ Rikku squirmed unnervingly at the passionate cerise hues that was staring at her with such deliberate force that Rikku felt the saliva in her mouth start to dry up.

"Lu?" Wakka nudged the dark-haired woman next to him gently in the ribs, his eyes straying from Lulu to where she was staring - in this case, towards his new friend that he had met at sea, Rikku - with a look of concern on his face. "Lu? C'mon now, the villagers want to see that new Fayth of yours."

Rikku gulped, wishing that she could at least hide behind the tall blonde man but now that they had all gone off with Kimahri (except for herself, Wakka and Lulu of course) so now because of that, she had to face the humiliation of Wakka seeing that her face was as red as a tomato because of Lulu's gaze.

'_Uh. Maybe I should just go follow that Kimahri or something. Yeah, uh.'_ Rikku thought, feeling like that her body was on supernova and that her feet would collapse under her body.

Rushing past Wakka and Lulu, Rikku hurried down the stone steps towards Kimahri and the blonde boy, not wishing to be apart of Lulu's staring game and Wakka's unanswerable questions and accusations.

Finally reaching Kimahri, Rikku grasped out onto the blue feline's arm without any second thoughts on her mind, even when the cat in front of her let out a soft, gentle growl.

"Right." Rikku whined into Kimahri's supple azure fur, nuzzling her nose into it at Lulu's voice that now sounded right behind her.

Two sets of footsteps. One heavy and loud whilst the other was light and restrained compared to the other. They passed Rikku, none of them hesitating to stand next to her, not even in some sort of comfort that Rikku dearly wished she had apart from Kimahri's warm fur.

Then a sigh. An impatient one. Someone who was easily annoyed at her actions yet someone who was also concerned for her at the same time.

"Are you alright kid?" A black leather glove was placed on Rikku's shoulder, squeezing tightly as if trying to wake Rikku up from a dreamless nightmare.

Looking back over her shoulder, Rikku almost let out a squeal to see that the blonde boy that hadn't been so happy to see her was staring at her with worry in his cerulean eyes.

"Hey now, don't look so scared. Lu's not that scary is she?" Rikku watched the blonde boy chuckle at her heartily, his eyes sparkling as he did so. "Then again, she is kinda intimidating to women I've gotta admit."

At that, Rikku moved away from Kimahri's arm and jutted out her lower lip in her infamous pout. "It's not that! I'm not intimidated or anything! But y'know! She just kinda…" Rikku scratched her right cheek, an embarrassed flush on her face. "Surprised me! That's all!"

"Sure she did." The blonde boy laughed again, sliding himself in the gap where Rikku had just been clinging onto Kimahri's arm for dear life. "But y'know, hugging people's arms randomly isn't helping your case…"

Glowering, Rikku crossed her arms over her chest in a look of defiance. "Well! Uh! Oh stuff you!" With an even more bothered look than before, the Al Bhed girl locked herself once more on Kimahri's arm - which had meant that she had practically shoved herself in-between the blonde's arm and Kimahri's.

"Shush heathen!" Someone hissed in front of Rikku, their voice old and croaky sounding. "The summoner is performing!"

Peering behind Kimahri's (that was the cat's name right?) arm, Rikku caught herself looking at the back of the old woman's head that had been throwing her dirty looks since she had arrived, furthermore, now that she knew that…Rikku bobbed her tongue out and blew a raspberry short after it.

"I'd ignore her. She's always cranky." The blonde blitzer nudged Rikku in the ribs with a weary smirk, glancing at the old woman with a look that clearly said that he wasn't surprised at the old bat's actions.

"She didn't have to call me that y'know? It's not my fault I'm an Al-" Rikku bit her tongue, lowering herself so that she was right under Kimahri's arm at the blonde boy's gaze. "Uh. Al…Al…Al-"

"Don't sweat about it. Nobody's going to gut you. Well, I'm not. That's for sure." The blitzer grinned at her, exposing his good guy white teeth. "I know what you are, but I'm not gonna try and hurt you for it. Sheesh."

"You aren't?" Rikku whispered under her breath, eyeing the old woman in front of her just in case the bat decided that the walking stick she was holding onto was a good weapon for battering Al Bhed's with. _"Seriously!"_

"Yup." He nodded, rearranging his yellow and blue jacket with his hands for a moment before outstretching it in a hand gesture. "I'm Tidus. Nice to meet ya, heathen!" Tidus teased at the last part of his sentence, reaching out with his other hand to ruffle Rikku's beaded hair. "Just kidding!"

"Ya better be!" Rikku warned good-humouredly, feeling a smile twitch its way onto her lips. "Pleasure to meet you oh great Tidus. I'm Rikku!"

At this, Tidus's eyes widened. "Rikku? Yuna's cousin? The one from Zanarkand apparently?"

Letting go of Kimahri's arm with a small grunt, Rikku latched herself onto Tidus's instead and started to lead the blonde away from the group awfully slowly as if she was walking through a mine field.

Once Rikku had found a nice secure place at the back of the large huddle around the pasty circle, she quickly startled exploding with questions that she had kept inside the whole time she'd been in this boy's presence.

"How do you know I'm from Zanarkand?" Rikku whispered harshly into Tidus's ear, pulling back to see that Tidus was watching the crowd around Lulu cagily. "And how the hell do you know Yunie! Are you the Al Bhed that Yunie was talking about?"

Tidus instantly placed his index finger to her lips, silencing the Al Bhed girl halfway through her rant immediately.

"Shush! We're still around tons of people! Y'know what will happen when Wakka finds out that you're an Al Bhed?" Tidus pressed harder down onto Rikku's lips at the hints that she was beginning to squirm. "He'll be angry with us all for keeping it a secret but he'll be ANGRY at YOU even more for deceiving him! So shush!"

Rikku nodded in agreement, her eyes wide and her whole body had tensed up at the sense that Wakka _would_ be absolutely seething at her for letting her fool him about being any normal Yevonite.

"And I'm Yuna's friend from childhood. We haven't seen each other in years." Tidus explained, edging away further from the crowd. "We only keep in touch through seagulls delivering messages. And aren't you lucky that I got a message from Yuna about three hours before you came into the Cloister."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Rikku grabbed both of Tidus's hands and proceeded to let out most of her excitement by bouncing up on the heels of her feet. "Yunie's alive?"

Grinning cockily, Tidus punched the air. "You bet! Can't believe she had a run in with Sin! That girl just never learns y'know?"

Almost screaming in exhilaration, Rikku kept bouncing on her feet to try and shake all her pent up energy away. "So you're the guy Yunie was talking about! Sir Ject's son! Right?"

At this, Tidus's features darkened and Rikku could feel Tidus's hands clench softly around her fingers. "Yeah, I am. What about it?"

"But that means…How did you get the message if you've been in the Cloister for ages?" Rikku cut her own sentence down with a question, completely puzzled at what Tidus had said.

With a wink, the blonde blitzer scratched the back of his head. "I got some people to deliver it to me. Remember those two little girls that we saw?"

Nodding, Rikku arched a finely shaped eyebrow. Yes, she had seen them but that wasn't what was bugging her the most. How the hell had they gotten in without being caught?

"Well. They're the daughters of that snobby priest woman back in there. And y'know how priests are. Especially women priests." Tidus snorted, giving Rikku a cheeky grin. "So she let 'em give come in to give them to me. Intelligent pair mind you, couldn't believe they got past the Cloister by themselves."

"So you think Sin's toxin got me too huh?" Rikku asked, changing the subject completely to try and get away from the whole rant about how to get in the Cloister was easy for two children when she herself let Wakka do all the work because she had NO idea where to start.

"Nah way. You're totally from another universe." Tidus shrugged, pointing over to the exact bush that Rikku had discarded her Zanarkand Abes armguard. "Couldn't help but notice it y'know? Can't believe Wakka didn't notice it. What an idiot. Sometimes I think he's going blind. But yeah, Yuna told me everything in her letter."

Rikku blinked, re-winded what Tidus had just said and then scratched her chin thoughtfully. "You actually believe me? Seriously? You REALLY believe me? No joking?"

"Sure. No evidence saying that you can't come from a different Zanarkand than the one here in Spira." Tidus shrugged, his lips thin in a fine line. "But you do know I'll have to talk to Lu and Kimahri about this don't you? I can't just go around keeping your secret without letting off just a little steam."

Sighing with release, Rikku placed a hand over her heart. "Thank goodness you aren't going to tell Wakka." The young Al Bhed gave Tidus a look of pleading for a moment, her hands clenched together. "Well, that's what I hope you mean!"

"Duh. I love Wakka and all but I think it'd be best to keep it from him for a while. If we told him everything that would lead up to him discovering you're an Al Bhed." Tidus gave Rikku an exasperated look at the thought of Wakka finding out. "And that would not be pretty."

Beaming, Rikku hugged Tidus tightly around the neck before pulling away with an even bigger joyous smirk. "Well that's great! I'm so glad YOU understand Tidus! No wonder Yunie fancies you!"

At once, Tidus blushed and he rubbed his hands together in embarrassment. "Yuna fancies me?"

"Uh…" Rikku let her jaw drop slowly, wondering if she should have told Tidus about that whilst also wondering what Yuna would do to her if she found out. "Uh…I really shouldn't have said that y'know?"

Rubbing the back of his head, Tidus gave the guilty-looking Rikku a unconfident grin. "I won't mention it then I guess…But y'know, thanks for the tip. I know what I'll have to do next time we meet or something…" Tidus finished with a wink, his blush returning.

"Aw!" Rikku squealed, clapping her hands together in animation. "That is SO cute! Can I come to your wedding?" At this, Rikku threw herself down onto the ground. "Oh PLEASE say yes! Please? Pretty please?"

Backing away with hands straight up in the air and eyes wide as dinner plates, Tidus glanced down at the Al Bhed girl that was hugging his leg as if her life depended on it. "Uh! Yeah! Sure, sure." He glanced around at the now bustling crowd who by the looks of it was waiting for Lulu's demonstration with obvious anticipation. "Just…Let go of my leg yeah?"

"Yessir!" Rikku announced, jumping up straight away at Tidus's request with her arms stretched tightly in the air to get rid of her tense muscles. "So…"

The Al Bhed girl glanced over at Lulu and the lively crowd that was starting to get nearer and nearer every time Rikku looked away, a uneven smirk pressing itself onto her features.

"What's the crowd getting so excited about?" Rikku asked the blonde, nudging him slightly in the ribs. "I know that Lulu's a summoner and all now but what is the big deal anyway?"

Staring at the Al Bhed girl silently for a moment, Tidus gazed back in the center of the circle with furrowed eyebrows before gently looking back at Rikku with a carefree smile.

"Lu's showing all these people her new summon. The new aeon she received." Tidus shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest and nodding at Lulu - who by the looks of it was still being hugged by children of all ages. "Maybe that's why they're getting all excited. Nobody's seen an aeon performance before."

Rikku arched a curious eyebrow, scratching her cheek at the uneasiness of the question she was about to ask. "What's an aeon then? Some kinda…god thing?"

Tidus teased his fingers through his blonde fortress of tresses, sighing slightly while blowing his lips out in a puff. "Hard to explain…It's like a creature of some sort. Given to summoners by the Fayth. But…The Aeon itself is the Fayth…Ugh. Y'know what? Forget what I just said. You'll see soon enough."

Rolling her eyes a little, Rikku let a bright appear on her face before repeatedly jumping high so that she could just about see over the large crowd that was starting to get impatient with the preparations of Lulu's performance.

"I can't see a thing! What am I supposed to be waiting for?" Rikku yelled down to the staring Tidus, her eyes scanning the area for Lulu and the rest of the guardians. "Aren't we supposed to be over there too!"

Rikku was about to complain some more when a strong hand grasped her own, then proceeded to drag her through the crowd…Right to where Lulu was waiting with Kimahri and Wakka!

"No, no! Back! Let's go back!" Rikku whined, trying to tug away from the blonde who was practically dragging her forward. "Please! I feel uncomfortable!"

"You said we should be over there, so what else am I gonna do?" Tidus grinned over his shoulder, laughing at the feeble attempts of the blonde Al Bhed. "Besides, apparently you're a guardian now. So shush."

"Then I resign! I resign god damn it!" Rikku screeched, literally being dragged kicking and screaming by the smiling Tidus. "This is…uh…What's it called now?"

"Against your human rights?" Tidus suggested with a cocky smirk.

"Yeah!" Rikku squealed, slightly giving up with her attempts of escape thanks to the withering stares she was receiving from the people of Besaid. "That's EXACTLY what it's called!"

"Well c'mon. You're not just gonna embarrass yourself but Lu as well if you keep squirming." Tidus replied back, pushing past the last group of people to join Lulu and the rest in the circle.

"Hey Lu! Sorry we took so long! Rikku and me just got talking and guess what? She's Yuna's cousin!" Tidus yelled, waving his left arm around to signal the summoner to look over at him.

Lulu did so and as if Rikku was under a spell, she froze again. And lord and behold, blushed like crazy.

"It's alright. I'm glad she's feeling better and actually talking now. I was a bit worried before." Lulu responded back, her eyes flickering over the silent Al Bhed again before a tiny smile appeared. So warm and reassuring that Rikku couldn't help but let her own twitch of a smile reappear on her face.

"Ya shoulda heard her when she arrived Lu!" Wakka whispered rather loudly, laughing at the glare that he received from the blonde girl. "Couldn't stop her talking! Dunno what's wrong with her now though."

By the looks of how Lulu's face had turned tense all of a sudden, Rikku bit her lower lip in fear at what looked like to be nothing but an angry hiss that would put Wakka in his place before Rikku could even think about standing up for herself.

"Lady Summoner! Please! Show us your new Aeon!"

However, it looked like that the people _were_ on Wakka's side today and was indeed interested in the new aeon Lulu had received from the so-called Fayth.

Lulu nodded once, her soft gaze washing over Rikku's and Tidus's stiff forms with a unreadable stare on her face. "Tidus…Please take her to my hut, I'll be there shortly."

Rikku swallowed hard. Part of her wanted to just agree with Lulu and let Tidus take her to the summoner's home, however another part of her desperately wanted to look at the new 'aeon' that everyone was getting so excited about.

"B-but…" Looking around edgily at the crowd around her, Lulu and the rest of the guardians, Rikku pouted slightly. "But I wanna stay and watch too y'know! To see the new aeon and all. I can right?"

The dark summoner tilted her head slightly to the side, staring deeply into emerald swirls for a while - ignoring the grumbles she was receiving from the wait and the mutters of how the stupid blonde always had to ruin everything.

"I don't see why not." Lulu shrugged her shoulders, moving her head left to right quickly before glancing swiftly back at the young Al Bhed. "I just thought you deserved some rest. But…If it makes you happy, please stay."

And as per usual, just when Rikku was finally feeling some happiness and confidence that she could talk to Lulu now. Someone stepped forward, voicing their opinion in their high and superior-like voice.

"Please Lady Summoner…Most may accept this girl, but others of us. The ones who still remember what…Her kind did to us! We cannot possibly remain in her presence…It is too hurtful for words." A wandering priest whispered soothingly, his hands pressed together and his head bowed. "I apologize if I have upset you Lady Summoner but I -"

Growling, Rikku stomped her foot into the ground. "Fine! I'm outta here!" Spinning around, the Al Bhed girl proceeded to stomp away from the circle towards…Well…Uh. She actually had no idea where she was going.

"Don't worry, you're going the right way." Tidus walked past her after a few moments, putting one hand on his hip while using the other to point in the general direction of Lulu's hut. "Just follow me though, wouldn't want you going in any random Al Bhed hater's hut."

"Hah. Hah. Hah." Rikku retorted back with well deserved bitterness, kicking the sand underneath her feet furiously. "Hah! Freaking hah!"

"Alright, alright. Don't get so worked up about it Rikku. Back there." Tidus gestured to the people surrounding Lulu with a snort. "Most people back there are snobs anyway. Don't worry though, some there don't mind you at all. We've had a few Al Bhed's come and go around here and they were decent enough with them. They're just angry that Lulu's taken some weird interest with you."

Rikku let out a frustrated sigh, throwing her arms up into the air and letting out a little feral moan. "But that's not fair! How is it my fault Lulu keeps staring at me like I'm some ornament that she's taken a fancy to?"

"It isn't. But people won't see it like that. And hey." Tidus pinched Rikku's shoulder lightly, making her glower at the blonde. "From Lu's hut, you'll still be able to see when she summons the Aeon. It'll be cool."

Still, Rikku sighed. "It won't be the same though. I wanna be there as well. It's just so…Horrible that I can't be as privileged as others. It's not fair."

"I know Rikku…Really." Tidus spoke relaxingly, his cerulean eyes gleaming with deep sincerity and understanding. "But it won't always be like this. I promise. It's just how Spira is at the moment. But one day…I'll make it change. One day."

Despite the situation, Rikku couldn't help but chuckle. "Aw, you're so sweet Tiddley." With a giggle, Rikku skipped out of Tidus's reach, his eyes wide and jaw slack.

"Did you just call me Tiddley?" The blonde blitzer yelled, shaking his fist high up in the air and starting out at a light jog after the speedy Al Bhed.

"Nope!" Rikku giggled again, spinning around like a ballet dinner before gliding once more out of Tidus's treacherous fingertips.

"I officially hate that nickname!" Tidus called after her, now running so that he could grasp the blonde Al Bhed girl's arm in his firm grip to stop her from running directly out of the village.

"Aw, love you too Tiddley." Rikku laughed, bobbing her tongue out at the blonde before being dragged laughing into a nearby hut to her and Tidus's right.

_

* * *

_

Rikku sighed. Tossed. Then turned over onto her front. Then did the same with her back. And she STILL wasn't comfortable.

Tidus had left ages ago - promising her that he'd talk to Lulu about the outburst in both Temple and at the circle however he couldn't promise anything to come out of it - with a cheery, faithful grin on his face.

Tidus was such a liar. She couldn't even see the stupid crowds by the circle at Lulu's hut in fact the only thing you could see was the ocean, the green grass of the jungle and some sand. Big whoop.

She was so bored staying here. Hadn't Lulu said that Rikku was with her? She had, yet how come she didn't speak up for her as she had at the temple?

'_Probably because I stormed off before she could.' _Huffed Rikku, shaking her head in frustration at herself. _'I'm such an idiot.' _

Wakka's bed was uncomfortable compared to Lulu's though. Lulu's was soft and feathery - a bit like Lulu herself (from what Rikku could see anyway) - whilst Wakka's was rough and edgy like a stone though both had the same style and by the looks of it, material.

'_And now I'm comparing beds…Ugh! I'm sooo boreeddd…I'd rather have Lulu here even if she's just going to stare at me all -'_

"I'm glad you've gotten yourself so comfortable."

"Ah!" Rikku shrieked, tumbling out of Lulu's bed so fast that she ended flat on her face with her arms by her sides.

A sigh followed Rikku's actions, followed by a slight chuckle and footsteps that seemed to be heading in her direction.

"I do not intend to be vain when I say this, but I seem to have this effect on many people." Lulu's velvety voice spoke out to the still grounded Rikku, the humour clear in her tone.

Groaning slightly, Rikku pressed herself up with the help of her arms so in the end it looked like she was doing press ups to try and get herself up from the floor that she seemed to have implanted herself on.

Gripping onto something that felt downy to her fingertips, Rikku yanked herself up to see that she had grasped the hem of Lulu's belt dress which already exposed so much cleavage that Rikku was surprised the summoner hadn't beaten her ass for almost exposing more.

"Geez…" Rikku murmured, rubbing her forehead to try and clear the aching headache she'd managed to work up thanks to Lulu's presence.

"Are you alright?" Rikku heard Lulu ask, her body shifting slightly so that she was now staring attentively at the summoner with inquisitive hues.

"Uh…Guess so. I've had worse." Rikku grinned weakly, rubbing her arms in apprehension. She really didn't want to show any disrespect, just in case Lulu would yell at her like all the others.

"As I can tell." Lulu nodded towards Rikku's back, her eyebrow arched contemptuously. "Those scratches on your back are deep and yet you haven't even got them looked at. Wakka was right. You _have_ been through the wars Rikku."

"You know my name?" Rikku gasped, wishing she hadn't straight away after the concentrated gaze she received from cerise orbs after her action.

"Wakka _and_ Tidus told me everything they knew about you." The summoner waved a hand in front of her face, as if dismissing the incident like a passing thought. "I know quite a few things concerning you thanks to them."

"Oh." Rikku flushed, hugging her own shoulders while at the same time sitting at the end of the bed just opposite to where Lulu was at the other end of the bed. "I guess y'know that I'm…"

"From Zanarkand apparently…Or so I've heard." Lulu eyed Rikku sceptically, wordlessly reassuring Rikku that of course, Wakka hadn't heard anything about the talk of Zanarkand.

"So! You believe me?" Rikku shrieked quietly, jumping up and down on Lulu's bed with excitement.

"Yes and no." Lulu leaned back against the headboard of her bed, hands folded neatly in her belted lap.

Chin slack, Rikku felt her body stiffen and millions of questions rush through her mind all at once.

"Uh…Huh?" Rikku raised her arms up in the air, sticking out her tongue also in a look of pure concentration. "How'd you get that one?"

"Yes, I believe you are from Zanarkand because of the material of your Zanarkand Abes armguard." Lulu explained gently, moving her hand behind her back to tug on something that she'd been hiding (so secretly) behind her backbone. "And no, because you are an Al Bhed and apparently if you are…From Zanarkand. Al Bhed people didn't exist in Zanarkand at all. They would have been banished almost instantly."

Interested swirled hues softened and Rikku let the top part of her body fall silently against the silky, russet sheets, a cheerless sigh blowing through her lips as if she was whispering a prayer.

"Why…Why does everyone hate us Al Bheds?" Rikku asked the hushed summoner, her beads and blonde tresses starting to fall in her face. "I mean…Why do they hate us so much? What did we do?"

"I thought Yuna already told you the reason…" Lulu whispered back, one of her hands still behind her back. "Little Rikku…"

"But that's just a stupid reason! I mean!" Rikku brought herself up into a sitting position, her fingers clenched into fists and her eyes swirling with fury. "Not everyone in the world can be stupid bigots! Right?"

Rikku raged in silence for a few moments, her body moving up and down rapidly at the euphoria of her rage yet her breathing was shallow and short like she'd been running a marathon…This anger that she felt was so out of character for her, that even she, Rikku, was surprised at it.

Then, unexpectedly, a short, high chortle cut through the red haze of pure fury. Making Rikku even more puzzled than she had been before.

"Bigots? Well, that is one way to describe us, the people of Yevon, I suppose." Lulu bowed her head slightly, hiding her chuckling and warm smile from the even more confused Al Bhed. "Honestly, nobody has actually ever said that to a new summoner who has been praised thoroughly by the people of Yevon herself for becoming a summoner. I'm not sure if I should call you foolish or brave."

Blinking rapidly, Rikku scratched the top of her head and let another bewildered look come on her face. "Uh…I'm glad I could be of assistance?"

Well! _So what? _What _else _was she supposed to say? Uh excuse me, but do you like, come with subtitles? That'd just sound stupid and Rikku already knew she looked stupid enough in front of Wakka without adding Lulu to her list.

Lulu didn't reply to her, instead she just removed her arm from behind her back to reveal an item Rikku didn't think she'd lost in the first place yet when she looked down at her belt, it was true that she _had_ managed to lose it.

"My Mirage Claw! Where'd you find that?" Rikku wailed, a gigantic grin appearing on her features.

"You dropped it when you stormed off in a huff." Lulu explained, her lips quirking up in an amused smirk. "A rather impressive weapon that luckily for me I managed to get my hands on first."

Without hesitation (or thought), Rikku leaped on the dark summoner, her arms wrapping around the thin waist of the wordless Lulu who by the feel of it had decided to remain silent at this sudden action.

"Thank you so much! If I'd of lost it then I wouldn't have known what to do y'know!" Rikku squealed into the stomach of Lulu, her legs thrashing and kicking wildly as they normally did when she got excited. "Thank you soooo much!"

At that moment though, just when Rikku was about to hug Lulu even more and beg for some sort of job she could do to try and make it up to the summoner…The Al Bhed girl felt Lulu stiffen and tense her body underneath her light weight, making Rikku go limp against the oddly cold pale skin of the cerise-eyed woman.

Blushing with abnormal strength, Rikku quickly pushed herself off Lulu's taut form and covered her eyes with her arms so that she wouldn't show Lulu the fact that she was indeed mortified at her actions.

"Sorry…" The Al Bhed girl mumbled, wishing that the unsavoury heat on her cheeks would just get lost god damn it! Didn't it have better people to torment apart from her?

"Apology accepted." Lulu murmured, watching the young Al Bhed girl tremble as if one glare from her could KO her in a mini-second. Part of Lulu wanted to leave the Al Bhed girl like this - just to see how long Rikku could keep this up until she decided that it was safe to _breathe_, never mind talk to her again - yet another part of Lulu overruled that insanity with common sense.

"Now, now. You can take your hands away from your face." Lulu tenderly spoke, reaching out to grasp Rikku's wrists in her delicate palms to slowly bring them down in her lap.

The dry blood around Rikku's knuckles startled Lulu the moment she let her thumb rub over the cracked knuckles, her hard cerise hues diminishing into something far softer and gentler than they had been before.

"The damage you do on your body is irrevocably horrifying, Rikku." Lulu tutted, rubbing her thumbs over the damaged knuckles once more before letting them gently fall in her lap. "Oh and you can open your eyes. You don't need to be so afraid."

"You sure you aren't going to kill me for acting like an idiot back there?" Rikku mumbled, one eyelid opening with uncertainty.

"I'll try to restrain myself." Lulu replied, her trademark crooked smile starting to appear on her face once more. "But only if you behave yourself and let me look at your knuckles."

"Yes madam!" Rikku found herself giggling, already feeling her usual cheer start to come back again due to Lulu's reassurance and without any further ado, she spread her hands out wide so that Lulu could look at her knuckles more closely.

Examining Lulu's expression with questioning sea green swirls, Rikku subconsciously felt herself move forward so that she was practically leaning over the bowed head of the summoner that was so intently looking at her knuckles, not even noticing a thing or even the hot breath on the back of her neck.

"Not so bad." Lulu whispered breathily, nodding her head in approval before letting her cerise hues flick back up to stare deeply at the Al Bhed's young face with an encouraging twitch of a smile. "Wait here."

Rikku felt cool hands pull away from her (discomforting) clammy ones, her hands immediately wrapping around her own waist and her swirls connecting with crimson before settling back down on the sheets where it was safe to look and not to be seen.

"Uh, where are you going?" Rikku ask, still looking down at the satin covers that belonged to Lulu's bed.

"I need to go fetch some Healing Water from my basin over in my bathroom." Lulu got off her bed, heading towards her bathroom with a bitterly sweet smile on her facial expression. "I won't even be ten metres away from you, so try not to panic whilst I'm gone."

"Heeey!" Rikku leaned up at the summoner on her knuckles, her brow furrowed in irritation. "I don't panic when you're gone! I hardly know you!"

In spite of her rant, Rikku watched Lulu go silently towards her bathroom with nothing but a look of pure and total concentration - like Lulu was trying to work out a tough maths puzzle that had somehow appeared on her, Rikku's, face.

Rikku had no choice but to watch Lulu walk around in her bathroom, kneeling down next to a basin before standing up once more, coming out of said bathroom, going into what seemed to be the 'kitchen' area of the hut, filling the basin up with some healing water that lay in the jug before once more returning with a towel and what looked like baby wipes.

Gulping, Rikku could feel herself once more starting to sweat underneath Lulu's incinerating gaze that just won't stop gazing straight into her as if she was like glass - transparent and breakable but a glass that the summoner would never intentionally break.

Lulu placed the towels and wipes beside her as she sat sideways on the bed - her belts protesting once more at her actions - while putting the basin that was filled almost to the brim with healing water in the gap that was separating Lulu from the mystified Al Bhed girl (who was looking at the water as if it was the first time she'd actually seen water before).

"So…How's healing water work then?" Rikku asked, glancing down at the ripples that was the water's surface.

"Quite simple really." Lulu spoke softly, rearranging the towel beside her before then wrapping hands around the basin to start to heat the water up with a low fire black magick spell.

"Wow! Are you doing that?" Rikku exclaimed, watching Lulu's hands light up red at the sides for a moment before looking at the almost heated water with childish excitement. "That's so cool! Does that come with being a summoner?"

Lulu shook her head, moving her hands away from the basin and looking back up at Rikku to give a gentle smile that obviously didn't appear on Lulu's face a lot when around _other_ people - that Rikku could think of from the top of her head.

"No. Before being a summoner, I trained with a legendary Black Mage called Elhal." Lulu explained, setting her hot (not sweaty) palms over Rikku's child-like fingers. "I was nine however and Elhal…Elhal…"

Rikku didn't pry. By the looks of it, Lulu was having trouble trying to explain to her so she thought it was best not to make Lulu even more upset than she obviously was right now.

"Elhal was too old to have another apprentice." Lulu shook her head angrily (which Rikku wondered if it was at herself or at her mistress, Elhal for taking her in).

"Oh…" Rikku nodded, glancing off to the side to distract herself only to be brought back to the real world by warm water caressing her injured knuckles with its lukewarm glow.

Lulu cleared her throat abruptly, her fingers caressing and smoothing themselves around Rikku's own miniature ones with delicate care as if Rikku was a small, frail child that had just scraped her knee.

'_She kinda looks sad now.' _Rikku mused silently to herself, watching Lulu carefully for a moment so that she could study the summoner's face without arousing any suspicion that she was searching for answers that would most likely lead to a rather awkward situation. '_Uh, but what should I do about it? Should I try and make her feel better? Ugh…What a mess. She looks so calm and everything, like what she just said didn't affect her but I can so tell by how silent she's gone…'_

Then, the idea came to her. Auron! She could tell Lulu how embarrassing Auron was to her friends when she was younger, she could tell Lulu how much of a meanie Auron was and she could also tell Lulu almost EVERYTHING about what happened when she was younger. That was surely enough to distract Lulu from everything that was running on inside her mind.

"Well! I had a mentor too y'know?" Rikku yelled with enthusiasm, wishing that she could wave her arms up in the air to go along with her signature cheer.

"Oh?" Lulu actually looked up from her work, her hands stopping for a moment before continuing with their luscious massage.

"Yup!" Rikku nodded earnestly, glad that she had at least made Lulu get off the subject about her old mistress, Elhal. "He was called Auron and he was the guy who sent me here from Zanarkand y'k-"

"Sir Auron?" Lulu cut across, her cerise eyes widening in surprise at the name that had tumbled from Rikku's pink lips. "Sir Auron who guarded High Summoner Braska?"

At that, Rikku sighed and rested her chin on her right shoulder so she was looking away from Lulu at the collection of what looked like to be statues and animal hides that hung around the wall in obvious decoration.

"Yeah…That Auron." Another sigh. Seriously, now this is just getting old. She'd already told everyone this before so why hadn't Yunie said anything in the letter to Tidus? Or if she had, Lulu was obviously skirting around the situation.

"Well…I'm sure that _is _an experience."

Yup, totally skirting around it. But why? What was Lulu trying to hide from her? Something that she didn't want Rikku to know?

Cocking her head to the side, Rikku decided that if she was going to talk to Lulu more often from now on (she was travelling with them to Luca, right?) Then she might as well start to get used to the fact that Lulu was rather…Tasteful. Meaning that she'd have to get used to staring openly at Lulu a lot - which wasn't necessarily a bad thing but still.

So with unimagined skill, Rikku tilted her head up to do just that. Staring at Lulu so openly that she herself was to find how easy it was in the end.

_That_ only lasted however for a few moments until Lulu looked up again and held Rikku's gaze with her own concerned stare, her eyes not even hinting on what the summoner was thinking at Rikku's _weird _behaviour towards her.

"Sir Auron was a legendary guardian also, if you did not know." Lulu spoke suddenly, turning her head to the side for a moment. "Much more legendary than Sir Mamoru, my father. My father did not survive Sin. Yet Sir Auron did. And he still has no statue."

At that, Rikku felt herself throw a sullen pout at the summoner. All this talk about Auron was starting to get on her nerves, sure Rikku had always (secretly) thought he was great but she hadn't gone around bragging about it. Sheesh!

"Sir Auron looked after you I presume?" Lulu had turned back to look at Rikku again, a slender smile on her lips.

"Yup! He looked after me since I was nine!" Rikku nodded with a bright smile. Even if they were still kinda talking about Auron, at least they were talking about Auron looking after her! Which had to be good because then it'd persuade Lulu that she was from Zanarkand and then Lulu would create this BADASS portal and she'd teleport back to Zanarkand. Simple.

"A hard task to do I am sure." Lulu commented wittily, arching one of her chocolate brows with a little smirk. "Looking after a hyperactive Al Bhed girl after all is like slave labour."

"I guess you're kinda right." Rikku agreed, giggling to herself…On the other hand letting the answer of Lulu slowly sink into her brain, Rikku abruptly stopped her giggles with a hard glare.

"Not funny!"

"I believe so." Lulu answered back with a soundless chuckle, unknowingly making Rikku blush at the gesture. "You're naivety is rather appealing…To some people." Lulu added the last part fairly quickly, crimson hues crinkling at the truth in her words.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rikku asked, blinking hard to try and clear her thoughts so that she was only focusing on one thing and that was what Lulu had just said to her.

Lulu sighed, pressing harder onto the Al Bhed girl's digits for a brief second.

"Nothing. But if you _are_ from another world. Don't take so many risks. Like Sinspawn and Al Bhed haters for example."

"It wasn't my fault you pushed me in front of you at the Temple!" Rikku snapped, wriggling her hands out of Lulu's own so that they just rested in the tepid water. "They wouldn't hate me so much if you hadn't of!"

Before Rikku could throw herself off Lulu's bed to try and get the hell out of this Besaid, Lulu's now warm hands grabbed her own and forced them deep into her palms.

"I needed to know how they would react…So I could see what sort of protection _you_ would need." Lulu's fingers slowed in their pressing and instead started to trail across Rikku's knuckles where the wounds were.

"Me? Why would I need protection?" Rikku asked, her shoulders rigid with perplexity over Lulu's careful words. "You're the summoner, not me."

At this, Lulu let her hues swirl continuously with Rikku's own then started nodding her head in agreement. "Yes, that may be. But I promised Yuna that I would look after you until we got to the Moonflow where Yuna will meet us soon there."

Just as Lulu was about to continue with the healing - where she hoped there wouldn't be anymore conversations - she saw the uncertainty in Rikku's face and instantly felt that she needed to tell Rikku a way to make her understand.

"Tidus isn't the only one who receives messages off Yuna." Lulu whispered quietly, vaguely letting a kind smile come on her expression before a hard look of concentration took over.

"Oh…Well, okie dokie then." Rikku mumbled inaudibly, wishing that the god damn Healing Water would hurry up already! Sheesh, why did everything seem to go so wrong that she got discomfited by the fact that she was baffled at Lulu's ardour stare. It honestly sucked.

"Your hands are almost done." Lulu spoke after a few minutes of well-deserved silence, her attitude changing completely from it had been a few moments ago. She seemed reserved, like what she had said about Elhal and such was a lie that Rikku was never supposed to know about. "Just a few more seconds and they'll be as good as new."

Rikku nodded in response, clicking her tongue at the same time as wriggling impatiently on Lulu's bed, wishing that she was at least moving SOMETHING. Ugh. She hated not being able to move. It was like asking her not to breathe forever or something just because Rikku couldn't help herself and her need for movement.

Prickling started to make Rikku's hand buzz painfully, making the blonde Al Bhed crease her brow and bite her tongue to stop herself from whimpering pathetically in front of such a high individual who's life meant much more than hers did in her journey to defeat Sin.

If she couldn't stand a few scars healing then Rikku had no idea how she was going to face fiends that she would most likely encounter on the way to Luca, which probably would not end so well if Auron was here (she inwardly cringed at the disapproving glare that was there looking at her in her head.)

"I think you're done now." Lulu commented after a while, removing her hands from Rikku's own to let her hand swiftly grab a white flannel that she had placed on top of the towels that she had brought with her. "Remove your hands."

Rikku did as she was asked, shyly gazing up to try and strengthen her system against Lulu's stare whilst also waiting for the next command from the dark-haired summoner.

"I'll have to wrap your knuckles up later Rikku, but for now I think the healing water will do you well." Lulu explained tranquilly, stroking Rikku's oddly pale hands with her white flannel. "Thank you for being so patient."

Rikku grinned sheepishly, rubbing the both of her knees with her left and right index finger, "do I get a lollipop for being good then?"

At this, the corners of Lulu's lips twitched upwards into a genuine, small smile. "I'm afraid not. Me being in your company will just have to do."

Punching the bed playfully underneath her, Rikku grabbed the edges of her shoes and lifted them slightly. "Okay. So now what are the other towels for?"

"Observant aren't we?" Lulu moved the basin full of water to her side, moving up a little on the bed so that she was further away from the waiting Al Bhed, her mouth parting to form words. "Turn onto your stomach."

Rikku quirked her right eyebrow but decided that she might as well listen to Lulu so that she could do her own thing later. Therefore, Rikku quickly rolled onto her stomach so her legs were splayed over the side of the bed.

"This _may_ sting a little." Lulu muttered with an odd tone of humour in her voice, almost drowned out by the sound of water dripping back into its basin with loud trickle noises.

"What are you doing anyway- ouch! What the hell?" Rikku squirmed under the towel's rough (yet intentionally gentle) graze against the inherent wounds on her back. "

"I told you it would hurt." Lulu reminded Rikku casually, as if she hadn't hurt Rikku at all.

"You said a little!" Rikku complained, cowling like a cat set on fire - which made her feel sorry for the cat she had accidentally set on fire when she had been little.

"I apologize for my mistake." Lulu responded back, not sounding very sorry at all in Rikku's opinion.

"Reaaalllly convincing there Lulu!" Rikku grumbled, half-laughing at how defeated she sounded.

"Thank you." Lulu's voice had transformed into a sudden monotone, her hands stilling so that the towel rested on Rikku's shuddering back. "Now hold still before it begins to _really_ hurt."

"_It didn't hurt before?"_ Rikku mumbled wryly to herself, sighing a little at the silence that had fell between them.

The rough grazes on her back continued for a long time, Rikku wincing whenever the pain got too unbearable for her to keep a straight face and even sometimes she'd let out a little whimper when she could actually feel the healing water mix with her dry blood that was still in her wound.

"My, my. I thought you were a big girl by now. It surely can't hurt that much." Lulu taunted light-heartedly, her lavender fingernails scraping gently down Rikku's back before going back up again to test Rikku's strength on both her lower and upper back.

"I am a big girl!" Rikku griped, planting her chin in the palm of her left hand whilst letting her tongue loll out of her pink lips then before Rikku could say anything else about her maturity, suddenly realized how stupid that sounded and decided to shut up.

That high pitched chortle again and to Rikku's annoyance, she found it oddly (and irritatingly) enticing.

"The words that you speak prove it I suppose." Lulu replied with an enviable twitch of the corner of her lips which would most likely make anyone fall on their knees in about five seconds - which Rikku couldn't do seeming as she was on her stomach…So she was safe (sort of).

"You're making fun of me aren't you?" Rikku found herself asking, smiling just a bit at the highly obvious words (that had not been said but had been hinted) directed towards herself.

"You could say that." The towel grazed harder against Rikku's back, making the Al Bhed girl let out a loud yelp before settling back down into silence. "However, I prefer a different word myself."

Rikku laughed at this, feeling her body shake pleasantly. "I shouldn't ask. Right?"

"It's up to you. Do you really want to know the answer?" Lulu asked rhetorically, her cerise eyes widening in what could be interpreted as a wordless challenge.

The Al Bhed girl shifted her hues away from Lulu's own, the laugh that had been on her face falling into parted lips of incredulity. "Uh. I guess not?"

"As I thought…" Lulu dug her nails further into Rikku's back faintly - to not cause so much pain perhaps? "Now stay _still_ for Shiva's _sake_ or it'll take me more than two minutes to finish your back off."

Rikku stayed silent for a moment, planning her great comeback so that she could startle Lulu into such a great astounding silence that she'd be pretty pleased with herself for the rest of the day.

But y'see, the only problem was…And believe it or not, it was a very big problem indeed.

Lulu was already silent and Rikku knew that if Lulu was silent then she couldn't come back with a comeback because Lulu was ALREADY silent! How the hell was her plan going to work now?

"Argh! Ugh! Damn it! Bugger! Aeee!" Rikku screamed out loudly, hammering her legs left and right so much that she could feel Lulu's long nails cut into her skin as if the summoner was trying to straighten herself so that she wouldn't fall off the bed. "Blast it! Yaeeeh! Haaaah! Nn!"

Then, without any warning…Rikku stopped and flopped her head down so that her chin was resting on the edge of Lulu's bed.

A cough, breaking the silence and making Rikku look to her left to see that Lulu was staring down at her with a look of slight concern however also an expression of one who was scared that it was time to send their relative to the Looney-House.

"I…" Now that she had done what she had meant to do and was now facing the consequences of trying to explain to Lulu what she was doing, Rikku had found her mouth suddenly turn very parched.

"You?" Lulu had returned to finishing her back off, a hidden smirk gracing her lips only for a second before disappearing without a hint of it ever being there.

"Never mind." Rikku coughed straight after her words, turning her head away from Lulu once again. "Just had to…y'know. Let it all out."

"Don't let me stop you." Lulu chuckled with amusement, removing the bloodied towel away from Rikku's back. "If you need to let it all out, please do so."

Rikku was just about to protest, to pout and growl in annoyance at Lulu for being so damn alluring without even doing anything when suddenly, Lulu's nails scraped over a rather ticklish spot just by her hip - making Rikku spring up to land flat on her back with a yell escaping her lips.

"Rikku! What happened?" Lulu was leaning over her with anxious eyes, her pale hand fluttering up to cup Rikku's chin in her palm.

Vision blurred, Rikku groaned at the pain in her back that seemed to have renewed at her sudden movement.

"You just brushed your fingers against my…Best ticklish spot." The Al Bhed girl explained, blinking rapidly to try and get rid of the blurred edges of her eyesight.

In return to the information, Lulu sighed with irritation. "Goodness, you are a handful."

Rikku just grinned sheepishly.

_

* * *

_

Once Rikku had gotten her scars healed - which had taken twice as long thanks to the added conversations - it had been dark and Lulu had told her that she was to go directly to Tidus's hut (which where she would most likely be sleeping) until the celebrations was over.

When asked why she wasn't allowed to come, Lulu had said that it wasn't in her place to allow Rikku to come and had left without a word.

Rikku had then…Screamed in silence until she felt that her throat was sore from all her 'silent' screaming.

She had stomped her way to Tidus's hut though with the thanks of that batty old lady that had yelled at her for being a 'heathen' she wasn't in a good mood.

"_Stay away from the summoner!" _Rikku cawed, flailing her arms around like a crow, pretending to that very old cranky lady that she had just passed minutes ago.

"_You're a very bad woman!_" Rikku continued, dancing her way through the various huts that hid her from view from the dying celebrations.

The celebrations had been going on for a while however because of Rikku's sulking - which had probably lasted an hour and a half - Rikku had wasted her chance of sneaking into the celebrations to get some more food seeming as she was STARVING since she hadn't had any food apart from the sandwiches that Wakka had saved for her.

Rikku was just about to go into Tidus's hut to get some well-earned sleep when she heard an incredibly loud bunch of whispers coming from just behind Tidus's very own hut.

With unmatched stealth, Rikku ducked under the outside ledge of Tidus's hut so that she was unseen yet could still hear what was going on.

"Lu…What are you thinking ya?" Wakka was whispering urgently, as if his life depended on it and from the way Rikku could see him throwing his arms around like a poltergeist, she could obviously see that he wasn't happy at all.

"Whatever I am thinking _Wakka_, I have no idea why it has anything to do with _you_." Lulu responded coldly, a fierce glare on her face that Lulu had never seen before until now.

"What you did in that temple was unacceptable Lu! Don't you realize how embarrassing you were making all of us feel?" Wakka stepped forward, his hands to his sides but his hands were clenched to show his ferocity.

"I wasn't going to stand by and let her get insulted like that." Lulu spat back with icy fire, her voice sounding oddly calm even in the situation she was currently in.

Rikku winced, wondering if she should let Wakka and Lulu get on with it and go to bed whilst trying to block out the sounds of hissing and vehemence whisperings.

"I know that, I don't even know why they were calling her those things in the first place." Rikku let out a sigh of relief. Phew, Wakka was really as thick-headed as Lulu had implied in their chats back at the summoner's hut.

"But still! You can't just go mouthing out like that Lu!"

"How sentimental you sound, even I was fooled for a moment." Lulu had turned so that her back was facing Rikku and she was covering Wakka from view. "But no matter what you say, I will always know you place Yevon before anything in this world."

"Lu! Will you quit bringing him into everything I say?" Wakka was sounding even more angrier by the second and to Rikku it almost felt like the redhead was going to punch something to relieve him of his anger.

Lulu did not respond to Wakka's question. Instead she changed the subject completely.

"She isn't Chappu, Wakka. No matter how much you want her to be. She may like your sandwiches like Chappu did, she may be in the same position your brother was at blitz ball and she may even laugh at the same things Chappu laughed at. But she _isn't_ Chappu!"

Rikku recoiled at the harsh sound of Lulu's tone, feeling as if she had just been slapped in the face by both Lulu and Wakka at their words.

"Who are you to tell me that huh Lu?" Rikku heard the crunch of leaves crushing against feet. "I admit I brought her to the village because she reminded me of my brother Chappu! But at least I don't stare at her like you do! As if she's Chappu herself!"

Wakka had a point there, but luckily for Rikku, she couldn't voice it anyway.

"_Excuse me?_ Are you actually implying that to me?" Lulu had hissed sharply back, the hiss sounding astonishingly composed.

"Everyone saw it Lu! Tidus, me, Kimahri, the villagers! Hell I bet even Rikku saw it herself!"

With her name coming in (though Rikku knew that she had been in the entire conversation all along) Rikku decided she needed to sneak into Tidus's hut to get the better hearing of the conversation while at the same time as seeing their facial expressions (if she could) to decide if she should break the tension between both Lulu and Wakka.

"You saw _nothing_ Wakka."

Rikku gulped, moving to her left so that she could crawl into the hut without being seen by either Lulu or Wakka because if they did find her…Well, Rikku didn't even have to imagine the consequences.

"Right, because everyone just started hating Rikku for no reason." Wakka huffed back, making Rikku wish that she could crawl into the bed next to Tidus's own without being caught eaves-dropping on the pair.

"I didn't do anything to Rikku." Lulu defended herself cold-heartedly, her voice cutting Rikku right through the heart. "I was concerned about her and more than a little fascinated by the fact that someone else was in the chamber that certainly wasn't my guardian."

"Now that…" Wakka had paused his sentence for a moment, making Rikku tense in fear that she'd been caught. "Is a bare face lie!"

"I have no time for this Wakka. We're leaving for Kilika tomorrow and I'd like to get some sleep." Rikku watched as Lulu moved from the window, turning so only the side of her face was exposed to the Al Bhed girl.

"She's not coming with us Lu, not if you're going to act like this…" Wakka said unemotionally, his heavy breathing making Rikku feel like Lulu was being stalked by some wild animal.

"She _is_ coming with us Wakka." Lulu disagreed, moving away from the window to walk up the path that led to her own hut in her own slow, graceful pace. "Whether you like it or not."

Rikku snuggled into the hut's carpet, pressing her ear against it to try and deafen the drumming of her ears. This was so weird. She'd eaves-dropped loads of time on Auron and his old buddies talking about some weird old folks tales tons of times before yet now that she'd done it on Wakka and Lulu…She felt guilty - probably because most of the talk had been about her.

"You just can't argue with that woman…" She heard Wakka mumble underneath his breath angrily before loud stomps of feet fading into the distance.

Silence for a while, waiting in silence…Because if she was caught by Wakka and Lulu, she had no idea what she'd say or do…Because, what if's…They're all the same.

Then something steps gently on her back, throwing her to the side so that she is facing up at the bright light of Tidus's lamp that was hanging over her like a symbolic halo.

"Eh, didn't know you was listening to that or else I would've closed the window." Tidus's face appeared over the light, blocking it from her view, his face a mask of nothingness like he had expected it all along.

"Uh…What just happened out there?" Rikku whispered, her forehead soaked in sweat at the guilt she was feeling. Had she made Wakka and Lulu argue? Had she been the one who had made all the villagers disappointed with Lulu? What had all of this got to do with her anyway? Why did everything seem to suddenly revolve around her?

"You just heard Argument 103929 from our hosts…Wakka and Lulu!" Tidus whispered, shaking his head with disappointment at both the new summoner and the redheaded blitzer.

"Why…Why were they arguing about me?" Rikku breathed out shakily, the hot cold sweat trickling down her face like a stream.

Tidus moved away from her at that, sliding towards his bed until he was perched neatly at the end of it with his legs crossed and arms over his head in pent up frustration.

"We've gotta long day tomorrow Rikku. Get some sleep." That said, Tidus turned onto his side and rested his head on his pillow.

"NO way!" Rikku jumped up before proceeding to jump on the blonde haired blitzer with so much enthusiasm it would probably put those on hyper meds to shame (which was an honourable feat in her opinion).

"Shut up Rikku and get off me." Tidus groaned, pushing her off with a swing of his legs.

"You can't just…" Rikku placed both of her hands around her mouth, kneeling beside Tidus's ear. "Expect me to forget all of this!

Tidus jumped half a foot from his mattress, turning his head to scowl at her before returning to its original position. "I'm going to sleep. Now leave me alone."

Throwing herself down on the floor, Rikku stared up at the sleeping blonde with more than an irritated grimace on her features. "I'm not going to sleep until you tell me what the hell just happened."

"You'll be waiting an awfully long time…" Tidus murmured sleepily, nudging further up the bed with a growl.

"Why won't you tell me anything? Don't you think I have a right to know what they were arguing about?" Rikku bit her lower lip to keep herself from screaming, she was just so frustrated that she had no idea what she had to do to make Tidus tell her everything.

And of course, Tidus didn't answer. He just grunted whilst trying to get off to sleep.

"Fine! Just tell me who's Chappu! Why does he mean so much to Lulu?" Rikku was yelling in Tidus's ear again, her young face mixed with so much raw passion that Tidus stiffened at the tone and power of it.

Just when Rikku thought she'd actually gotten somewhere, Tidus snorted and curled into a defensive ball just before throwing the blankets over himself in the desperate need of warmth.

Rikku sighed, pushing herself up the floor to proceed to stumble over to the spare bed that had been made up for her.

There was no point in trying to make Tidus tell her who Chappu was, seeming as it was most likely a very painful subject so with that on her mind, Rikku crawled into the warm duvet covers with a unhappy frown on her face.

"Chappu…"

Rikku glanced over her shoulder, eyes wide with delicious excitement that she was actually getting somewhere.

"Chappu was Lulu's lover…" Tidus murmured groggily, clearly tired by today's events. "Now shut up and lemme go to sleep."

"Where is he now?" Rikku couldn't help but ask, something about Tidus's tone made her rather wary about where this Chappu was.

"Go to sleep Rikku."

_ Siren by Tori Amos is officially a Lulu/Rikku song. Now go listen to it please. Great joy \o/! And yes, you impatient people. They finally met. :P AND the tension there was electrifying right? Rofl. XP If that is what you want to think anyway. And aww, don't you just feel sorry for Rikku? Being a magnet to people really isn't her fault. /o\ Excuse me for the grammar errors but I haven't checked this chapter but I will soon enough. =P_


	6. Chapter 5

_This chapter focuses around the group leaving Besaid, getting onto the S.S to Kilika and encountering a rather fierce opponent at sea. Apologies for the tons of jumping around in this chapter._

CHAPTER 5

**_-x-_**

_I thought many people were heroes when I was in Spira  
__The Al Bhed  
__The people of Spira itself (a surprise I know)  
__Lu, Tidus, Yunie, Wakka, Kimahri, Pops and even…Even Auron…  
__But I guess that even if I believed that.  
__Lulu always believed that I was the real hero._

**_-x-_**

"C'mon Rikku!" Tidus shook the Al Bhed girl's shoulders roughly, grinning brightly at the day that lay ahead. "Time to get up! Got a long day ahead of ya, so get up!"

In response to the call, Rikku groaned and moved on her side away from the irritating sound of Tidus's voice. "No. Go away. Need more sleep. So tired…" Rikku yawned once more before turning over onto her back.

The blue-eyed blitzer watched the Al Bhed closely for a moment, wondering if he should (as Wakka had said when he had talked to him earlier this morning) to just leave Rikku and persuade Lulu to go on the boat without the girl.

But as he had found out by Lulu herself a few minutes ago, she wasn't going to leave without the Al Bhed coming with her and when he, Tidus had suggested that they wrote back to Yuna explaining that the Al Bhed would have to pick up Rikku from Besaid…Lulu had ignored him completely.

'_Why are you so intent on keeping Yuna's cousin with us?'_ Tidus remembered himself asking, his eyes glancing over to his hut before returning to meet sallow cerise hues.

'…_I do not know.'_ Lulu had lied to him and Tidus had known straight away. He had known what Lulu was about to say, he had known since Lulu and Rikku had first seen each other in the Chamber…And he wasn't happy about it to be honest.

'_The real reason?'_

Tidus kneeled down next to the sleeping Al Bhed, this time letting his hands pull away a stray blonde lock that was covering Rikku's eyes.

Silence. It was never silent in Besaid. People chattering, seagulls cawing and the waves whooshing and whishing until it was labelled as background noise that didn't even begin to disturb the people on Besaid.

'_Because I need her.'_

"C'mon Rikku…" Tidus grabbed the Al Bhed girl's wrist, squeezing tightly before throwing it around a little in an attempt to wake the sleeping girl up without being hit in the face for doing so.

'_But for what?'_

The lids of Rikku's eyes flickered open for a moment, a unsteady moan coming from her parted lips along with a grunt that could only mean that Tidus had succeeded in making Rikku at least HALF awake.

"I'm gonna get Lulu in here if you don't wake up." Tidus warned teasingly, wondering if what Wakka had told him was true or not. And if it was, what he should do about it in a bid to save Lulu from the fatal grip of the Al Bhed girl's aura.

"Do your worse Tiddley." Rikku whimpered however her eyes were now open, wide and alert as if looking around for the dark-haired summoner.

"Get up or we leave without you and you'll never get to the Moonflow to meet Yuna." Tidus reasoned, knocking the Al Bhed on the side of her head with his curled index finger.

"Fine." Rikku yawned, swinging her legs off her unkempt bed with the most largest frown to ever exist as if she had just been told that her hair had dyed blue through the dead of night.

"Good. I'll tell Lulu you're up so _that_ gives you time to pack the things you need for the journey." Tidus rubbed the back of his neck, kicking his carpet up with his heel for a moment before turning to go out of the door.

"Hey! What about breakfast?" Rikku yelled semi-groggily, her sentence ending with a yawn whilst her belly started to rumble in agony at how empty it was thanks to her not asking Tidus where his fridge was before dropping off to sleep.

"You missed it, sorry Rik." Tidus looked over his shoulder at her, a sheepish grin on his features. "Wakka told me not to wake you up because he said you needed some rest so I let you lay in."

"WHAT?" Rikku exclaimed, grabbing her stomach and making an exaggerated groaning sound. "No breakfast? This is so cruel. Please! I need breakfast!"

The blonde boy sighed, shaking his head at the Al Bhed girl who by the sound of her stomach, was indeed extremely hungry.

"I'll see what I can do for you Rikku, but I can't promise you anything." Tidus brushed his clothes down, stepping out of his hut after calling out a quick 'get dressed'.

Rikku groaned huffily in response, her stomach churning in desperate hunger. Surely Lulu wouldn't let her leave Besaid without a decent breakfast? The summoner had been kind towards her before, but would she go against Wakka again just for her? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

"Sausages wrapped up in bacon, bacon wrapped up in string, these are a few of my favourite things." Rikku sang bitterly, lifting herself up so that she was now tall enough to see out of the window into the center of Besaid.

From what she could see, both Wakka and Lulu was up and now that Tidus was just walking up, it led to the conclusion of the only one actually missing (that didn't include her) was the blue cat that had accompanied them in the Chamber of the Fayth.

"Maybe _he's_ eating _breakfast_." Rikku grumbled, picking up a backpack Tidus had leant her to put some of the little things she owned in for their massive adventure ahead and tossing it over her shoulder.

There was nothing to pack apart from some 'gil' (some weird money kind of thing Tidus had given her), some potions (which was basically healing water but in a bottle) and her ridiculously long scarf which she had decided that she wouldn't need for a while seeming as it looked like summer in Besaid.

And after all, all of that stuff was already in there so basically all she had to do was join the others and wait for that giant cat to arrive. Easy enough. Now all she had to do was keep her permanent skin colour - meaning that she would NOT turn red in front of the summoner - and would remain very business like. Yes. That was the plan anyways.

'_Okay Rikku, one step at a time. Keep the right colour and you'll be fine. Don't say anything stupid and just WAIT for the blue cat to come, don't complain about your stomach…Etcetera.'_ Rikku thought, breathing deeply through her nose and exhaling through her mouth.

Shaking herself to try and clear her thoughts, Rikku brushed herself down and stepped out of Tidus's hut, the sun hitting her in the eyes as she did so with its extraordinary light.

Her mouth suddenly dried at the warm heat, her eyes also starting to water uncomfortably at the sensation which did nothing but make Rikku wonder if what Yunie said about needing more clothes was a joke or not.

"Rise and shine Rikku old buddy!" Rikku heard Wakka exclaim in front of her, turning her face slightly to see that poor Tidus was latched into a headlock by the redhead's muscular arms. "Hope you had a - hey, no biting pipsqueak! - A good sleep ya?"

In response, Rikku just rubbed her eyes and let out her lips make a brrp sound in frustration. "It would be even better if I had food in my tum."

Wakka paused in his performance for a moment, his eyes blank and wide until the over-energetic blonde blitzer bit his thumb hard and a yowl escaped his parted lips which of course gave Wakka the excuse not to answer Rikku.

Fine, if Wakka didn't want to act like the nice person he had been yesterday…That was fine with her! And as if the world had just suddenly laughed at her, Rikku crossed her arms and glared at the ground.

She stood like this for a while, wondering silently where Lulu was hiding (which was strange, seeming as Lulu had been there before) or if they would be leaving without the blue cat or if she was going to get any food before they left to got o Kilika. All of these questions were answered in a matter of time, apart from one that is.

"Are we all here?" Lulu's voice was still velvety, still feathery and still one of the things that made Rikku wish she had longer hair to cover all her face with just a flick of her head.

"Yep, got Rikku up and we're meeting Kimahri at the bridge, so…I guess we're ready to go now." Wakka confirmed, nudging Rikku off balance so much with his elbow that she almost collapsed in a heap at how embarrassed she was trying to hide herself away from the raven-haired summoner who had been so kind to her but she just couldn't help it…Something about that Lulu, she just couldn't put her finger on it. It was just weird and Rikku wouldn't try to think up another definition of it.

"Did you have a good sleep?" The oppressive accent smothered the air with it's hot aura, coating Rikku in sweat at how…Different it was to her.

Then, she realized she was being talked to and immediately glanced up to see that the summoner was looking at her with a curious expression, her head tilted slightly to the side.

"Uh…" Rikku played with her beads, flicking them around her head as if she was one of those fans she used to cool herself down after an hour of training or so. However, training sounded a lot more fun than killing herself with embarrassment at how red she was going.

"Yeah, she was fine." Tidus answered for her, kicking her in the shins as he did so in an attempt to wake her up. "At least she didn't snore like Wakka normally does!"

"Aye! Get here you!" Wakka yelled, grabbing the blonde man by his neck and pulling him into a noogie.

Even if Tidus had answered for her, Rikku still felt the need to at least tell Lulu herself how she slept without even needing any help. That was how she'd normally react around people.

'_Yeah brain! Shut up being an idiot and GET WORKING!'_ Rikku inwardly fumed at herself, her fists clenched angrily at just how dense her brain was being today, when she was around Lulu anyway.

"I slept…Nicely." Rikku immediately bowed her head a little, should she do that now? Lulu was a summoner wasn't she? So she had to show a summoner respect because she didn't know Lulu personally…Yeah, that was how it'd been in Zanarkand…She hardly doubted it'd change.

"Good. We have a long walk today and you probably won't get any rest due to it." Lulu's lips twitched a little into a smirk before dropping subtly into a callous frown. "Let's hope you won't fall behind."

Rikku immediately saw Lulu shape into Auron for a moment before shaking her head to get rid of the image. No matter how much Lulu sometimes did sound like Auron, Rikku would never stoop Lulu to such a level that she'd think Lulu as a parent. She already had Auron and her real Pops anyway.

Instead, the Al Bhed placed a strained smile on her face. "I won't fall behind, bet you anything."

Lulu nodded serenely, the gentle and almost playful nature that had been shown to Rikku yesterday seemed a distant memory but of course, what had Rikku been expecting? Lulu was a summoner and Rikku was an Al Bhed girl. Sheesh, she shouldn't have expected anything better than what she had yesterday. Because seeming as Lulu knew what she was, the blonde had instantly made up a conclusion that the summoner didn't want anything to do with her when around other people.

Conclusion made, Rikku blushed and turned her face away from the group to instead look out at the jungle with narrowed slits for eyes.

She'd never known that being an Al Bhed would suck so much. So many people hated (or disliked as Tidus lightly put it) the way her people lived and to be honest, Rikku had no idea what they had done wrong in the first place though she could hardly tell them that she was from Zanarkand without sounding out of her freaking nut.

"Let's go then shall we?" Tidus's nervous chuckle filled the air, making Rikku's cheeks heat even more at how much of an embarrassment she was being to herself. Seriously. Who would act such an idiot in front of a summoner who also knew you were an Al Bhed and was obviously a higher class than you? Really.

"Yeah! C'mon! We've gotta meet Kimahri by the bridge!" Wakka enthusiastically replied, running forward so that he was now actually just two feet in front of Rikku with his arms wrapped around his chest.

The redheaded blitzer looked over his shoulder at Rikku for a moment. "You sure you gonna be okay Rikku? You look tired." Wakka threw a friendly smile at her as he spoke, most likely hoping that it would persuade Rikku to stay in Besaid like he had planned the night before.

With a scowl, Rikku shook her head and took a step back - unknowingly moving just beside the calm summoner - with her eyes telling Wakka the full story of what she had heard last night.

"She's not staying here Wakka." Lulu cut across Rikku's speech, making the Al Bhed look up to see eyes full of cold anger that made Rikku's stomach wriggle uncomfortably.

"I didn't say she had too!" Wakka protested, throwing himself around with his arms spread wide as if that would help him explain his reasons for his actions.

"You didn't have to. It was clear in your facial expression and in the stiffness of your muscles. Get used to it Wakka, she's coming with us whether you like it or not."

Gulping, Rikku said nothing. Scared that if she did, she'd make the mood between the group more tense than it already was thanks to just her being there.

Lulu walked swiftly forwards, cutting past Wakka with little acknowledgement apart from a sharp tilt of her head which only made Wakka tense even more - probably in fright thanks to how Lulu had basically hacked him down with just a few sharp words.

Tidus followed Lulu into the tropical jungle, speeding up into a jog to try and catch up with his surprisingly fast summoner.

Which just left Rikku and Wakka alone. Both silent as the other and both struggling to find words to try and tell each other what had obviously happened last night between the redhead blitzer and the new, secretive summoner.

Wakka moved his arms around his head for a second, tensing and then relaxing his muscles in what looked like one of Rikku's yoga exercises to try and strengthen her joints up.

"Get used to it huh?" Wakka spoke with a rough edgy tone, obviously not happy with what had been said to him.

The Al Bhed let her lips curl up slightly in a crooked grimace, her arms glued tightly to her side and her eyes following Tidus's back to try and clear her mind away from Wakka's scalding words.

"What a mess." Rikku heard the Auroch's captain murmur under his breath, his breathing turning into a large pant before the sound was took over by loud, heavy footsteps that were moving away from her.

Risking a glance upwards, Rikku just managed to see Wakka round a corner into the humid jungle with his head held high - almost as if he was sniffing the air or something.

**_

* * *

_**

_Growl. Growl. Growl. _

Rikku rubbed her stomach hastily, wincing at the looks she was receiving from everyone in the group. Lulu showed obvious concern, Tidus showed sympathy whilst Wakka didn't even look a little bit sorry for her; instead grumbling low underneath his breath.

"Sorry…" Apologized Rikku, blushing scarlet at the same time as trying to ease her stomach into silence so that they'd forget about the incident.

"Don't apologize." Lulu waved her hand in front of her, dismissing the subject with a furrowed brow. "Didn't you have any breakfast?"

Without thinking, Rikku shook her head and scuffed the toe of her boot into the dirt in front of her…Forgetting that Lulu wasn't supposed to know she hadn't had any breakfast just in case the summoner went kamikaze like she had when Wakka had slyly implied to leave the Al Bhed here.

"Uh! I mean…-" Rikku was just about to change her actions with words when Tidus coughed, signalling that she shouldn't even try - most likely because it would probably get Lulu even more worked up than she had been before.

"Sorry Lu, I forgot to wake her up in time…" Tidus stepped forward, letting his lie sink into the silence before stepping back with his arms up in the air as if signalling that he was in the wrong.

Yet, even when Tidus had reassured the summoner that it indeed was him and wasn't anyone else…Lulu immediately glanced at the redheaded blitzer, frowned deeply at the Auroch's captain and then turned her back on them all, walking deeper into the jungle.

Wakka sighed, brushed the sleep away from around his eyes and followed Lulu with a hung head which to Rikku made him look like a dejected schoolboy that had been turned down when asking a 'hot' girl out.

Tidus however, stayed with her, an unhappy smile on his tanned face and his cerulean eyes twinkling with melancholy and just plain despair.

"Sorry…" Rikku said, remorse clearly shown on her face. "I didn't mean to say anything about not having any breakfast, I just kinda forgot…"

Tidus sighed, walking towards her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "You shouldn't be the one saying sorry." Tidus scratched the back of his head. "It isn't your fault that Lu's being like this…She's just been…"

The blonde blitzer smiled warily, as if afraid. "Having a hard time lately…What with Wakka, becoming a summoner…Marriage proposals." Tidus rolled his eyes at the last word, expression changed into one with clear disgust.

Without meaning to, Rikku scrunched her face up in equal disgust. "Marriage proposals? Off who?"

Tidus shook his head in frustration, crossing his arms as he did so. "Because Lu is Sir Mamoru's daughter, the apprentice of the legendary Black Mage Elhal and now a summoner…She's very famous…With men to be exact."

The Al Bhed girl blew out her lips, rubbing her arms to try and get warm at the cold wind that had just rushed against her skin. "Sounds crap…"

"Yeah." Tidus agreed, digging into his side pocket to try and distract himself from thoughts that would probably irritate him all day. Lulu getting married was one of those thoughts.

"Poor Lulu…" Rikku murmured, more to herself than to the distracted blonde blitz ball player.

The Al Bhed girl continued on these thoughts, glad that back in her Zanarkand that you had to have parental permission BEFORE you asked your lover to marry you but then again, did Lulu have any parents apart from her deceased father Sir Mamoru?

"Where's Lulu's mom then? Nobody ever talks about Lulu's mom." Rikku slid her thought in slyly, walking towards Tidus before elbowing him lightly in the ribs with a wink. "Sooo?"

At her question, Tidus's eyes widened and his body tensed horribly - almost as if he was about to be sick.

"What? Was that a bad subject?" The blonde girl asked, her eyes childlike and completely innocent at what she had asked; reminding Tidus of how Chappu used to be like that when he was younger.

"Uh. You could say that! Heh!" Tidus chuckled nervously, averting his eyes away from Rikku's own. "In fact, don't mention it to Lulu at all! Unless you wanna be hit in the butt by a thunder spell."

Shuddering, Rikku inwardly cringed at the thought of thunder or lightning coming any where near her body parts…Especially towards her butt.

Yet, her curiosity (which was most likely larger than her mouth and idiocy combined) got the better of her in addition to that she just couldn't help but prod a little more. To get more out of Tidus and to hear more about Lulu's life from other people so that she wouldn't blush like crazy if she ever got the guts to ask Lulu about her personal life.

"But why? Why is it a bad subject? I mean, I'm never to afraid to tell anyone about my dad or anything like-"

"That's because your father is different to Lulu's mother!" Tidus cut across, his features turning into fierce animosity. "He's fit and healthy! Whilst Lu's mom…Lu's mom…"

The blitzer then threw his arms up in the air, turning away from the Al Bhed girl with a huff. "Forget I said anything…I wasn't supposed to tell you anything about Lulu, I've never told stuff about Lulu to anyone before."

Rocking on her heels, chewing her lower lip, Rikku had no idea what to say or do to make it better for Tidus without sounding sarcastic.

"There's just something about you…" Tidus tutted under his breath, pacing back and forth for a few seconds. "Something that makes me wanna trust you…Which is insane because I hardly even KNOW you! This, this is just insane…"

Rikku rubbed the top of her head, still confused at what the hell was going on this morning that had everyone so tense and fractious with each other. It most likely was her but oh well.

She couldn't really do anything about that could she?

_**

* * *

**_

Shortly after catching up with Lulu and Wakka - with Tidus following her in a thoughtful mood - Rikku decided that maybe she should try and cheer everyone up with her senseless acts.

They were nearing the bridge where Kimahri was probably waiting for them so if they all arrived in a mood, Rikku would in all likelihood be blamed for this act because she was just Rikku and everything bad happened because of her.

Wakka was walking behind Lulu, his chin dropped so that it was propped against his chest. Obviously moody.

Lulu was peaceful and quiet. If silence had an image, Lulu probably would have been it seeming as she hardly talked to anyone anyways. Rikku couldn't quite tell if the new summoner was moody or not. Presumably.

Tidus was just Tidus. Being thoughtful, not a care in the world; reminding Rikku of herself at how carefree they both were, together and apart. Not moody. Just lost deep in thought.

Now that she thought about it…Maybe cheering them all up wasn't such a good idea (what with Tidus threatening to sick Lulu on her and Wakka just being plain moody) unless…

With a devious grin, the Al Bhed pulled herself up on the fences that stopped people from falling into the unfathomable water below them, waited until all three of them had passed her and then started to plan her steps carefully.

One step. Two step. Three step. Four…Once Wakka had went past her again. Rikku leaped onto the redhead's shoulders, grabbing his nose, yanking it, jumping off and then running past the slightly shocked summoner and throwing herself into the bushes that was just sitting by the bridge.

"Urgh! Wait till I get my hands on ya! You little!" Rikku heard Wakka cry out, annoyed but slightly amused which was great. She wanted that reaction so her trip wouldn't be a downright misery.

Tidus laughing in the background was also a great help for the mood, since his laughter was also making a slight smile twitch its way - with great difficulty - onto Lulu's painted mauve lips.

So. Mission accomplished. If Rikku could have been bothered, she would have patted herself on the back for doing something she was great at doing. Being friggen annoying however at the same time making SOME people laugh in the process. Oh yeah, she was good.

Just before Rikku could plan how to trip Tidus up without being detected, something grabbed her by the back of her neck and lifted her swiftly up from the ground as if she was nothing but a rag doll…Something furry and blue that apparently had tons of muscle seeing that she wasn't the lightest girl ever.

At that moment (just before Rikku could even think about complaining) something wet touched her cheek, followed by a hard sniff that made the Al Bhed's skin wrinkle unpleasantly.

Three short laughs broke Rikku away from the uncomfortable haze, making her turn her head to the side to see two orange eyes blink sceptically at her almost as if it was making sure she was actually there.

"It's alright Kimahri, Rikku wasn't doing Wakka any real damage." Lulu soothed the great cat, patting his muscular blue arm with a pleased smirk that Rikku had only seen once (genuinely anyway) today.

The Al Bhed girl felt something velvety brush against her leg, tickling the skin so that she wriggled in Kimahri's neck-breaking grip that was going to break her neck if he held onto her any tighter.

To see what the source of the material was, Rikku wasn't that surprised to see that Lulu was now standing beside both her and Kimahri, her eyes flickering up to meet her's before looking at Kimahri again.

"You can put her down now Kimahri." That smirk again. Genuine as well. Again. It was weird to be honest, it really only happened when she, Rikku, made herself look like an idiot (again) or whenever she said something which she thought was pretty mature yet ended up sounding so stupid that she couldn't believe she had said it. But wasn't that falling into the idiot category?

'_Shut up Rikku. You're confusing yourself. I mean. Me.'_ Smiling sheepishly at her own thoughts, the Al Bhed wished she could have scratched the back of her neck to finish her signature 'you're an idiot, scratch your head' move.

She was dropped to land on her feet, looking the blue cat up and down vigorously as if Kimahri was going to eat her if she did anything that would upset him or Lulu or anyone else in particular.

Instead the cat leaned down to sniff at her face, pulling himself away with a jerk and his lips curled back in repulsion.

"Kimahri. You smelled Rikku before. Her smell is no different." Lulu spoke with a soft sensation, her cerise eyes studying Rikku and Kimahri with unspoken oddity.

Kimahri shifted his body in the summoner's direction, his coal hues showing understanding. "Rikku needs bath."

"What?" Rikku intervened, her eyes wide and her arms crossed with exasperation. "I had a bath in the sea about a day ago!"

Both of Tidus's and Wakka's guffaws drowned Rikku's complaining out, her face so red that if pressed against Wakka's hair, it would match completely.

"I don't smell! You got that?" Rikku whined, jumping up on the tips of her toes to bang her lithe fists against the rock hard muscles that was hidden behind blue fur. "I smell nice! Not like fish or salt or whatever! Ugh!"

The blue cat moved his head in her direction, a feeble growl that still managed to make Rikku stop in her tracks. "Salt. Fish." His nose twitched slightly. "Different."

The Al Bhed girl whined in the back of her throat, her nose wrinkled just like Kimahri's. "Well gee, excuse me smelling different to your tastes Mr Picky."

Kimahri grunted, turning his back on her to walk way in front the rest of the group, his tail swishing away the leaves that lay in wake thanks to his thundering steps which was the reason why the leaves were on the road ahead in the first place.

"Well you smell awful too!" Rikku called after the cat, following him with her fist up in the air. "REALLY. REALLY. AWFUL!"

**_

* * *

_**

"WOO!" Rikku cheered, bouncing through the crowds that were splayed out all around the beach with such euphoria that the sand underneath her feet flew up into the air in every direction.

When she had first arrived in Besaid, Rikku hadn't had the time to look properly at the beach and the lush, healthy green trees that were spread across the beach in such an orderly fashion that Rikku wouldn't be surprised if they were actually in a gigantic holiday park.

"Oh my gosh look how green and yellow everything is!" Rikku cried, nudging her head into Tidus's shoulder with a cheerful smirk on her face. "It's just so…awesome!"

Tidus laughed heartily in response, throwing his head back to glance at the blue, clear sky above their heads. "I know right? I mean, every time I come here I think the exact same thing. How cool is this place? I mean really?"

Just as Rikku was about to answer, there were cheers and roars of happy laughter that literally blew Rikku into Tidus's chest at how friggen loud it was.

"Summoner Lulu!" Kids squealed, running through and around both Rikku's and Tidus's legs, making both blondes jump back in fear as two little kids very nearly knocked both of them down as they dived forward with their heads.

Rikku glanced behind her as she dodged the surge of kids that seemed to increase every second to see that the rest of their little group (Lulu, Wakka and Kimahri) were starting to draw closer to her and Tidus in slow steps - their steps becoming even slower at the swell of kids running at them.

"Well, looks like we've got a popular crowd eh?" Tidus smirked at Rikku, also glancing over his shoulder to watch the summoner start to be bombarded by tons of children.

"Ya think?" Rikku pouted, something that she didn't like making her stomach wriggle uncomfortably.

Envy maybe. Envy because if she remembered correctly she had had as many fans as Lulu had right now, fawning over her as if she was gods gift and what surprised Rikku the most was…How she actually missed something that she had never wanted in the first place.

Fame. Fans. Autographs. Attention. Rikku had never wanted it back in Zanarkand but now that she was in Besaid…Yeah, she got attention alright but not the type that she wanted.

But hey, being hated had its perks right? I mean its not like you got free fruit and vegetables everyday right? Ha. Ha. Ha.

"Why don't we get on the ship huh?" Tidus broke Rikku away from her thoughts, his cheerful smile perched on his lips as he pointed towards the ship that awaited to take them to Kilika.

Rikku tore herself away from Lulu to focus on the ship that rested on the still waters, her jaw dropping amazement at the pure beauty of the ship that would take them to their destination.

"Holy hell! That's the S.S Liki!" Rikku practically squealed out her question, pushing Tidus forward just to jump on his back to see more of the ship that was now being crowded by citizens.

Nodding while grunting at the extra weight on his back, Tidus pushed Rikku higher up into the air so that he could rearrange his friend so that he wouldn't collapse due to the strain of Rikku sitting on his bruise - this act making Rikku knock him on the head for making her squeal.

"Hey!" Tidus yelped, glaring at the blonde on his back over his shoulder before looking back over at the ship, the S.S Liki. "So…What'd ya think Rikku?"

Rikku didn't respond to her friend straight away, her eyes still shifting slightly to look at the busy Lulu who was surrounded by kids and by the looks of it, was getting slightly impatient as she forced many smiles and many hugs for each child - who squealed in excitement each time Lulu got one inch closer to them or something.

Eyes softening, Rikku smiled freely for the first time today. Her smile hurting because of the lack of it being there for the past few hours which was no surprise thanks to the tension between everyone in the group.

Then Lulu looked up, met her gaze and Rikku's smile vanished, her face flushed incredibly at being caught looking at the summoner with her different swirled eyes and of course, Rikku looked away - feeling dirty in many senses.

"Uh yeah. It's great!" Rikku mumbled quickly, her face so red that she buried her head in Tidus's shoulder to try and cool herself down. Which didn't help much seeming as Tidus always felt like he was on fire even in the cool of night.

Tidus laughed, his smirk heard and not seen. "What? What's got you so embarrassed?"

"Oh nothing! Just feeling a little flushed!" Rikku lied, her voice nervously high in a way that totally screamed _'oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!' _to her fellow blitzer and blonde.

"Are you _suurree_?" Tidus teased, throwing Rikku up in the air a little before jumping up himself to catch the blonde on his back once again - this leading to Tidus having another bump on the head.

"Stop it!" Rikku laughed, repeatedly hitting the blonde on the head until he jolted her again.

Laughter and screams rushed past them again, knocking Tidus off edge a little so that he and Rikku were practically thrown to the side as little kids poured past them like a stream.

Just as Rikku was about to jump off Tidus's back to rush the little kids that kept making both her and Tidus feel a little intimidated due to their large number, Rikku was immediately stopped by the rest of the group that they had left behind, catching up and of course…

"I thought you said you had a good rest?" Lulu smirked slyly at Rikku at the same time as motioning to Rikku on Tidus's back her dark fringe covering one of her cerise eyes whilst the other twinkled playfully in humour.

Rikku gulped, forcing herself to look at the exquisite summoner who had a rather annoying ability to pop up when Rikku was about to do something either stupid or when she was about to do something epic that turned out to be quite stupid.

"Uh…I did. I just." Rikku stuttered, sliding down Tidus's back to look up quietly at the three (REALLY TALL) adults who were staring down at her. Lulu in subtle humour. Wakka in unease and Kimahri…Well…Kimahri in complete, utter monotone.

"I had a cramp…?" Rikku suggested, arching both of her eyebrows as she did at Auron whenever she wanted to end a conversation and it normally worked because Auron was far from stupid and could easily tell that when Rikku did the eyebrows then it was time to just admit she was right and get on with his life.

Apparently it worked on Lulu too.

Shaking her head, smile still there but faded, Lulu chose to accept the answer and continue forwards towards the S.S Liki with the rest of the group following her which left both Tidus and her staring at each other in great incredulity.

"Cramps?" Tidus laughed, scratching the back of his head.

Rikku glowered angrily. "Oh shove _off Tidley_."

The clever answer that Tidus had been planning vanished on his lips and instead Tidus too, just followed Lulu with his arms crossed as if he had been scolded.

_**

* * *

**_

Rikku's stomach grumbled. Again. And again. Again. And again.

Tidus sighed, rolling his eyes. "For Shiva's sake Rik! Shut up will you? You're doing my head in!"

Rikku glared at her fellow blitzer, aiming a kick at his head which Tidus ducked just in time.

"I can't help it! I'm really hungry!" Rikku whined, watching as Lulu waved to the citizens of Besaid as the S.S Liki started to pull away from its harbour to set off to Kilika. "And nobody would stop to let me have any breakfast! So nah! It's your fault that I'm hungry and complaining!" And at this sentence, Rikku stuck her tongue out at the blitzer.

Blowing air from his lips in annoyance, Tidus looked up at the blue sky above their heads. "Yeah and I already said I'm sorry already Rik, but why don't you just wait until we get to Kilika or something? They'll be food waiting for us I think so no worries yeah?"

Rikku's stomach growled in response and the Al Bhed girl folded her arms. "No worries? Say that to my stomach, mister! She's never gone this long without food!"

Tidus snarled, throwing his hands up in the air. "ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! I'll go look for some food! Just stay here while I go look!"

Rikku smiled at Tidus's retreating back, the satisfaction of something going her way today making the throb of her stomach seem like a distant memory.

That was until the ship rocked and of course, Rikku's stomach didn't like that one bit when it was absolutely starving.

"Ughh…" Rikku groaned, rubbing her stomach again to try and get rid of the throbbing that was starting to drive her nuts. Seriously, at home she'd of been diving in her fridge by now but nope not when she was in a different universe. Nope. Impossible.

"So hungry…" Rikku placed her head between her legs, shivering as the ship rocked and the idle chatter of people started to fill her head. Some, she could tell, was looking at her with worry whilst others who had seen her at Besaid walked past her with disgruntled expressions on their pure little faces which did nothing but make Rikku wanna punch them straight in the face. Violence is not an option? Rikku could hardly believe that. More like, violence is ALWAYS an option.

"Ahem." A cough broke Rikku from her thoughts, making the Al Bhed look up with hope in her eyes that Tidus had returned with her food.

Hope quickly turned into mortification at who Rikku was actually staring at, her emerald swirled eyes immediately averting themselves from the fiery cerise that was staring down at her.

"Uhm…Hi." Rikku murmured, pulling her arms tighter around her legs and her eyes still glaring holes into her knees.

"Is it not considered rude in your Zanarkand to not look at someone when you are speaking to them?" Lulu's voice was soft and tender but it still managed to cut across Rikku's heart like a blade piercing flesh.

It also made Rikku look up in fright and complete utter shame. "Sorry! I just…I don't know…I didn't think you'd want me seen talking to you because you're a summoner and I'm a…" Rikku looked around to see if anyone was watching in on her and Lulu and when she was satisfied that there was indeed nobody watching, Rikku continued her sentence with a shaky smile.

"Well…Cuz I'm an Al Bhed and all…I thought maybe you don't want other people to get the wrong idea. That's all."

Surprisingly Rikku managed to keep her emerald green swirled eyes on Lulu's crimson ones all through her speaking, a feat that made Rikku gob smacked at herself for a moment.

"How ridiculous." Lulu chuckled, placing her hand out in front of Rikku's face, silently asking for Rikku to take it. "Believe me when I say this Rikku, origin does not matter to me."

Not entirely convinced, Rikku stared at Lulu's hand warily along with staring off at the ship from the corner of her eyes just in case anyone tried to say anything to them or would watch her and Lulu with anger-filled eyes.

"Do you wish to remain hungry?" Lulu joked with a simple tight grin, said grin fading away almost instantly.

Rikku returned her full attention back on the summoner, her feelings mixed on what she should exactly without causing havoc to anyone.

'_Ugh! My stomach says go but my brain says no! Ugh! I'm really, really hungry…So maybe If I go, thank her and get the hell out of there then maybe it won't be so bad…Yeah, great plan Rikku…Not!' _Rikku scowled at herself, feeling but not controlling her moving hand that was reaching so cautiously for the summoner's own waiting hand.

"Okay. I'll go with you." Rikku whispered quietly, eyeing everyone around her and ignoring her angry stomach. "But only because I'm really hungry! ~"

"As I said before. Origin does not matter." Lulu responded back cynically, her change of tone making Rikku's back stand up straighter and the for the blood to return back to Rikku's cheeks.

"Yeah. Uh. Sorry…" Rikku apologized, following Lulu down the ships stairs and into the lower deck where (by the sign that stood near a small entrance) a café lay in wait for customers to file in to get their food and caffeine.

Lulu sighed, shaking her head once again as she steered herself towards a deserted table that rested way at the back. Not that it mattered where they sat as the café was completely empty anyway but oh well, Lulu just wanted to get Rikku something to eat.

Rikku sat at the table with a nervous look on her face, her fingers knotting together on the table's surface. This was so weird, when she had been at Lulu's hut she'd been fairly fine but now that she was in a public place it felt as if she had to hide herself away from the world so it wouldn't get the wrong idea. The wrong idea of Lulu being acquaintances with an Al Bhed, someone like herself and apparently a reason why Sin was at large.

And Rikku hated feeling like this. She hated feeling as if she was dirt to others. To the Yevonites. When she wasn't, she was the same as them and even a little more because hell, Rikku wasn't even from here and they still expected so much of her…So, so much.

"I'll be right back." Lulu said, touching Rikku on the hand for a moment before going over to where a woman stood at the counter with various sorts of menus surrounding her from every direction.

This left Rikku alone in her thoughts. A very dangerous thing to do. Especially when Rikku was actually thinking seriously.

'_Why should I be so nervous huh?'_ Rikku argued with herself quietly, her lips pulled back in aggravation. '_I mean it isn't as if she's going to hurt me or anything. She's Lulu. Huh. She won't hurt me. I mean, she said I was with her now so that means I'm her friend. Not just some stupid Al Bhed. Yeah…'_

Placing her knotted hands under her chin, Rikku slid so that her hands (along with her chin) rested on the table where she and Lulu were to sit and eat. Worry. That was all she could do. Worry.

'_ARGH SHUT UP RIKKU! You're just making this harder yourself! As per usual! Act like your normal self! Is that so hard? Are you some sort of retard? C'mon already! Get in the game! You complete idiot!' _

Rikku let out a frustrated sigh at her thoughts, kicking herself in the shins to try and relieve some of her anger on herself without causing some serious damage.

But really, these thoughts were ridiculous. It was as if she was back in Zanarkand giving the rest of her team pep talk to try and boost the morale up.

Just as Rikku was about to once more start complaining about herself and her life being suckish, a plate was placed in front of her with something delicious sending out a mouth-watering smell that made Rikku drool slightly.

"Oh my gosh…" Rikku was nearly in tears as she looked down at the familiar-looking meat. "Is that…_BACON_?"

Well it certainly looked like bacon and with that in mind, Rikku started to wolf the food down her throat as if it was her last ever meal.

In reply to Rikku, Lulu sat down on the chair opposite Rikku with a dubious look on her features. "Bacon? Is that a food from Zanarkand?"

Halfway through said 'bacon' Rikku slowed her chewing down, eyes wide as her tongue sampled the taste of the meat that was in her mouth…

Swallowing quickly, Rikku looked back at the summoner in distaste. "So…If that wasn't bacon…What was it?"

Tilting her head to the side to stare curiously at the Al Bhed girl, Lulu picked up a spare fork and prodded the meat with it. "This is called chocobo meat. Normally it is quite fat but this one seems quite stringy…" Then at Rikku's oblivious look, Lulu sighed and shook her head.

"You really are clueless, aren't you?"

Scrunching her face up, Rikku crossed her arms and bobbed her tongue out at the summoner.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound like that but…" Lulu speared the chocobo meat once more with her fork, a look that Rikku couldn't quite interpret on her expression as she did so. "I thought that Sir Auron would have told you more about Spira…"

Rikku lifted both of her blonde eyebrows, her eyes following them in suit. "Yeah well. Me and you both. But of course, that meanie would have kept me in the dark for all my life if Sin hadn't attacked Zanarkand..."

"I'm sure he had a reason." Lulu spoke her answer truthfully, her cerise eyes softening slightly at Rikku's former speech.

Rolling her eyes, Rikku stuffed a piece of chocobo meat in her mouth in a bored manner. "That's what every adult says…They only say that because they don't have any other answer, I mean, I'm not stupid y'know?"

Surprisingly instead of being mad, Lulu laughed quietly yet at the high, piercing sound it made she quickly covered her mouth with one of her hands.

"Hey!" Rikku grumped, popping another bit of meat in her mouth and chewing rapidly. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. Just eat your food." Lulu smirked, hiding her thoughts as a way to regain her cool, hard composition that made Wakka flinch every time Lulu had her 'hard' mask on.

With a pout, Rikku glanced down at her food and proceeded eating silently in hope that after a while Lulu would talk or something so that Rikku didn't feel so bad eating while Lulu just sat there and did nothing.

And for a while, Lulu really didn't do anything but stare casually out of the windows, her brow furrowed as if she was studying something that wasn't there but of course, Rikku didn't look at Lulu for too long just in case the summoner caught her looking at her and Rikku would have to explain why she was staring at her. And to be honest, Rikku wasn't so sure of the answer.

"So…You are Rikku's cousin. But you were born in Zanarkand? How unusual." Lulu slipped in nonchalantly, making Rikku look up from her now empty plate to look at the summoner's questioning cerise eyes.

"Uhm well yeah. I guess that _is_ kinda weird huh?" Rikku spoke back, resting her chin in her hands.

"Extremely. But what I'm trying to ask you is…" Lulu eyed Rikku warily and her slender, porcelain fingers wrapped themselves around each other. "Your father. His name is?"

Rikku scratched just under her right cheekbone, a coy look gracing her expression and turning her lips up at the corners.

"Uh. Cid. Yeah. Cid."

"Cid? Yuna's uncle? My…But of course you're his child…" Lulu smiled affectionately at the sheath that held her Mirage Claw. "You have his weapon that was crafted by himself. I think I even remember watching him craft it when I was a little child."

Rikku glanced down, eyes wide in amazement and awe. "_You_ knew my old man? This is his…-" Rikku couldn't finish, she was just too speechless to carry on without choking on her own tongue and without hesitation the Al Bhed girl pulled out her Mirage Claw and placed it on the table in front of both her and Lulu.

Lulu's fingers tenderly gripped onto one of the claws, her thumb sliding over the steel as if she was testing the sharpness of it.

"Now that I remember it…I remember him offering it to me once or twice. But that was before you were born I imagine." Lulu chuckled bitterly, her brow furrowed as she looked further at the details of the Claw.

Rikku gulped, reluctantly letting her own hand brush against the strange leather that was just below the metal claws that Lulu was so interested in and for some reason, Rikku felt extremely uncomfortable touching the same object as Lulu was…Almost unworthy.

"D-do you still want it?" Rikku managed to gasp out, her throat unbelievably dry and her heart painfully throbbing in her chest.

Lulu looked up at the Al Bhed in confusion. "Want it? Of course not. It's yours and I would never take it away from you. Cid always said that he planned on giving it to his daughter or son…Give or take."

Rikku looked at her own reflection in one of the claws and immediately burst out laughing at her rather…serious look that she had never really took on before in her whole life.

"Whoa! This is _so_ weird! Everyone knows so much about my Pops and I know nothing! Nothing!" And still Rikku continued to laugh while Lulu watched her, eyebrow quirked in interest.

"Do you think he remembers me?" Rikku asked the summoner once she had stopped laughing, still slightly breathless due to all the laughing in the first place.

Lulu's lips twitched up into a smile faintly for a moment before returning into a straight, hard line. "Most likely. I doubt Cid would forget his own daughter."

Narrowing her cobalt hues, Rikku let out a frustrated huff. "Well gee Lulu, you're great to talk to when someone is feeling down. Seriously. Whoo hoo!"

"You asked me a question, I answered it." Lulu spoke calmly, her cerise eyes wandering away from the Mirage Claw to lock with emerald swirls. "It is hardly up for discussion."

With a roll of her eyes, Rikku placed the Mirage Claw back into its sheath. "And here I thought you were a happy go-lucky sorta girl."

And as people say, sarcasm is your best friend whenever you need it.

_**

* * *

**_

"So…"

Both her and Lulu was back on deck near the crowds of people that was bustling around the blitzers of the Besaid Aurochs and surprisingly they had been enjoying each other's silent company for a while until Lulu spoke up in a more than curious voice in addition to that; what surprised Rikku more was the fact that she was more than willing to answer anything Lulu asked her.

"I've heard in Zanarkand that there is a great stadium, even bigger than the ones that we have in Spira and it all lit up, even at night." Lulu spoke with such obvious inquisitiveness that Rikku had to suppress a smile and look away so she wouldn't comment on it and most likely make Lulu moody.

"Apparently there are great blitz ball tournaments held there and the stands are always full when their favourite teams are playing against each other." Lulu continued to speak, the subject of what she was talking about making Rikku more and more bewildered.

"Well yeah." Rikku nodded, looking out over the blue sea where seagulls chirped and the waves crashed against the S.S Liki. "But how would you know anything about Zanarkand?"

"Cid told me bits about Zanarkand that he said he still remembered." Lulu explained, also looking over the blue sea with unwinding oddity that would just not leave her heart and soul. "I was six years old since I last saw him so maybe I got the details wrong but I can still remember Zanarkand somewhere when he used to talk to me before he set off with my father for a pilgrimage."

Rikku glanced shyly at the summoner for a moment, her eyes tracing Lulu's face as if she was a delicate vase that Rikku was afraid to break even if her insides had started to twist at Lulu's words.

"My Pops did a pilgrimage? Like the one we're doing?" Rikku questioned, her eyebrow arched in confusion. Yuna had told her that Cid had been her father's guardian and had not even mentioned Sir Mamoru being a guardian along with Cid.

"He travelled with my father for half of his pilgrimage though he wasn't a summoner and then joined your uncle's Braska's pilgrimage. But really, Cid only went with my father because…Well…To get treasure so I believe." Lulu spoke softly, making Rikku lean in closer with her eyes and ears strained.

"My father travelled alone from that moment on." Lulu finished her story with a light-hearted sigh, turning her face away from the curious probing eyes of the Al Bhed girl. "And Cid…Cid became a hero for the Al Bhed."

"Did he ever mention-?" Rikku didn't have to finish, so she didn't and that was all Lulu needed to know.

The summoner placed a hand on her forehead, a low groan coming out of her parted lips while she tried hard to remember what had exactly happened back when she was still such a small child.

Just as Rikku was about to blurt out a full, well-thought apology she was stopped immediately by Lulu's hand gesturing her to not speak and of course Rikku obeyed earnestly, waiting for more than a while.

"Apologies." Lulu whispered, breathing in a deep, harsh and quick breath that managed to clear her head in more than one way.

"It's okay. Sorry I asked." Rikku mumbled, her cheeks flushing again at how much of an idiot she was at causing Lulu pain for her own selfish needs.

"No, it isn't your fault. You have a right to know about Cid…" Lulu murmured, the throbbing in her head returning and then fading like an on-off switch that was literally driving her crazy. "But as I was trying to answer before…I think he may have mentioned a little blonde girl once. Just once. I really cannot remember anything. I'm sorry. I wish I could remember more but it all goes blank from then on."

Rikku shrugged, another surge of happiness in her. So Cid did remember her…And this Mirage Claw…

All of it was meant for her.

"I don't think he'd approve if he saw me now." Lulu spoke out all of a sudden, a quiet chuckle escaping her mauve lips. "A summoner…My, from what I heard from Yuna he almost made himself paralyzed when he realized that she was 'trying' to become a summoner and of course, Yuna decided not to become one after that."

Rikku quirked a slender blonde brow. "Why not? I mean, you're doing everyone in Besaid proud and y'know…You're saving lives and everything! I mean sure, being a summoner is hard and all but still it doesn't mean that a summoner can't…Hey! What does a summoner do again?"

Lulu heavily sighed, moving away a long strand of raven hair away from her crimson orbs. "My, my. Didn't anyone tell you back in Besaid?"

"Well if they had, do you think I'd be asking you right now? Silly." Rikku said, smirking impishly.

"A summoner's job is to defeat Sin but to do that I need to obtain the final Aeon which is why I'm going to different temples to get new Aeons and then collect the final one." Lulu explained, not missing out any important details but also not putting the details in that would sour the already tense mood of the ship.

"_Ohhhh! _NOW that you mention it! I do remember someone telling me that!" Rikku scratched the top of her head, grinning mischievously as she did so. "I just sorta forgot y'know?"

"Why am I not surprised?" Lulu chuckled under her breath, watching the Al Bhed girl from the corner of her eye as said Al Bhed girl too started to laugh.

"_Hey!_ I'm just forge- whoa!" Rikku squealed as the S.S Liki surged sideways as the boat was hit with such incredible force that the only thing that didn't make Rikku fall off the boat was the fact that she had been gripping the rails of the ship.

Lulu however…

Rikku yanked one of her hands in Lulu's direction, grabbing onto the summoner's hand as Lulu started to topple backwards into the sea and then proceeded to pull the summoner up so that Lulu was pretty much pressed against her body.

Though she didn't know how she had managed it in the first place seeming as Lulu was a lot heavier than her and Rikku was far too small for such a tall person like Lulu to keep her up by the rails and into safety.

"Kimahri!" Rikku found herself yelling with good intentions that she couldn't hold onto Lulu like this forever without letting go and if she let go then…Rikku could never forgive herself.

"SIN!" A bellow of a random passer-by made Lulu gasp directly in Rikku's ear, causing the Al Bhed girl to shiver and for her to cling on even tighter to both the railings and Lulu's waist. Almost as if her life depended on it.

A large growl that could only belong to Kimahri sounded through the rushing air, his loud paws making thudding sounds that was more than enough to make Rikku tremble and for her legs to shake unsteadily.

Then fur is pressed against Rikku's hands and by then, Lulu is already out of her arms and Kimahri is already gripping onto one of the masts with his bare claws, surprisingly keeping him and Lulu firmly on board the ship.

'_Well thanks a lot fur ball. Just leave Rikku hanging on for dear life!'_ Rikku thought bitterly, clinging onto the rails as hard as she could while scanning the boat in sign for any of her companions.

Tidus and Wakka were holding onto what looked like two massive harpoons, their weights dragging them down further as the tilted ship started to tilt even further in such slow motion that Rikku felt her stomach do belly flops at the wails and groans of Sin.

Screams were coming all around her, some children and some women and men while some were animals that were whining for their owners as they gradually slipped down the deck and into the ocean below where Sin and the harsh waves awaited with its hungry jaws.

But all of a sudden, before Rikku could even think about letting herself fall so that she could grab a few people and then try and hold on for dear life, Sin bashed the ship against the opposite side of the tilted ship which resulted in making the ship return to its original position. And everyone along with it.

Rikku slumped down onto her knees, briefly registering that all of the group was beside her in a heartbeat; Tidus's arms pulling her up, Wakka's hand resting on her shoulder, Kimahri's soft growl that made her shiver and the hot breath of Lulu that tickled and massaged her skin gently.

A man wearing a blue cap staggered forward, his screams of 'Kilika' making Rikku jump forward and rush towards the end of the ship where a little brass figure of a seagull sat so that she too could watch the speeding Sin retreat and instead head towards the endangered Kilika.

"Rikku!" Wakka cried out to her, making the Al Bhed look back to see that the group were streaking forward towards her. "Get off of there!"

The Al Bhed ignored the redheaded captain, squinting to see that Sin was rushing towards Kilika with surprisingly neutral speed - strange seeming as Sin seemed to be made of pieces of rock and granite in Rikku's opinion.

Another man rushed forward, his chest bare and with unimaginable speed; both of them rushed towards the two harpoons that sat beside the brass seagull where Rikku sat.

"Hey!" Both Tidus and Wakka cried out, startling Rikku so much that she fell off the brass seagull to land on her back - legs up in the air and her head literally rolled back so that everything appeared upside down.

"Are you crazy? Stick a harpoon in Sin and we'll be dragged under!" Wakka protested, trying to wrench one of the harpoons away from the bare-chested man with all his strength.

The man with the blue cap on his head threw Wakka dirty look before using another option. He turned to Lulu, his lower lip snared between his teeth in a look of complete utter worry.

"Please Lady Summoner! Sin is going to Kilika! We must protect it! We have family there!"

Rikku watched silently, her stomach wrenching and wriggling uncomfortably in a way that she was familiar with.

Guilt. She never had a proper family and she still wanted to protect Zanarkand even though hardly anything there was worth anything apart from her close friendship with Lance and even then…Was it really worth going back to if she was sort of accepted in Spira? Al Bheds accepted her anyway…

And then Lulu nodded solemnly and at that very second, at that very tilt of Lulu's head…Rikku had never felt so selfish in all her life.

The men nodded towards each other, brushing both Wakka and Tidus off before readying their harpoons to aim at the charging Sin.

Rikku placed her legs down so that she wouldn't distract the sailors, still on her back and still watching her groups movements just in case anything drastic happened so that she would be ready to help out.

"FIRE!" They both cried and Rikku whimpered almost instantly after, her hands pressed over her ears as the two harpoons sailed over her head.

And then (about ten seconds later) the S.S Liki surged forward once more and Rikku was more than a little glad that she hadn't been standing up when the ship started to speed forwards.

"We're just a little ant compared to Sin!" Rikku heard Wakka cry out before he fell to his knees, the force making him stumble.

"Shut up and get up!" Tidus yelled at his redheaded best friend, slapping Wakka around the back of his head. "Incoming Sinspawn you idiot!"

Rikku jumped up, her Mirage Claw already unsheathed just as five shelled Sinspawn flew over from Sin's back and landed around the rest of the group in an enclosed circle - blocking Rikku and the two men from them.

"Rikku!" Tidus called over to her, Sinspawn already starting to break away from their shells and starting to claw at the group with their sharp claws. "Rikku, hit Sin's fin! It might distract Sin enough that it'll stop moving!"

Rikku glanced behind her shoulder at Sin's giant fin that was just in front of the ship, blocking Kilika from view before giving Tidus a glare and a pout. "Hit it with what? My smile? I haven't got anything to chuck!"

"Wakka! Your blitz ball! Give Rikku your blitz ball!" Lulu called out, her hands alight with fire before quickly cooling down into ice that seemed to stun and impale the sinspawn as if knife through butter.

"My blitz ball? What am I going to fight with?" Wakka asked, grunting as a Sinspawn latched itself onto his knuckles with its claws until the redhead shoved the fired up blitz ball down the Sinspawn's throat - causing it to explode and for its whole body to be encased in pyre flies.

"I'll throw _you_ at Sin if you don't hurry up and give her the damn blitz ball!" Tidus yelled, yelping in pain as another Sinspawn clawed at his leg but the blonde kicked it off and sent it sailing towards Sin's fin.

"Alright! Alright!" Wakka grumbled, tossing his blitz ball over to the Al Bhed girl, then stepping back so that he was behind Kimahri in hope that the Ronso would save his butt if anything bad happened.

Balancing the blitz ball in the palm of her hands, Rikku eyed Sin's fin warily with her swirled, emerald eyes.

'_You can't oppose me, you can't even oppose yourself.' _

Rikku glanced around her, eyes widening at all of the people by her in a questioning look…Had someone on board said that to her or…She glanced back at Sin who was still speeding towards Kilika.

'_Oh yeah you big lump of metal looking fish_!' Rikku found herself cursing in her mind, her brow furrowed and her fingers gripping the leather of the blitz ball. '_If you really think that then…'_

Rikku gripped the blitz ball tighter and tighter, swinging her arm back so that it was a far as it could go.

'_Then eat my freaking blitz ball!'_ Rikku growled, letting her arm push Wakka's blitz ball forward towards Sin's fin, the ball sailing through the air with such speed that when it impacted on Sin's fin, Rikku could still feel the vibrations course through her hand.

And then Wakka's blitz ball came whizzing back into her hand like a boomerang, the blonde Al Bhed studying the ball for a moment before tossing it again at Sin's fin and getting the same result as before.

"Lulu! Summon the Aeon!" The blonde heard Wakka cry before another screech of the Sinspawn's wailing pierced her ears so much that Rikku had to plug both of her ears with her fingers.

Rikku did as she had before, throwing Wakka's blitz ball at the same time as keeping any straying Sinspawn away from her with her Mirage Claw - even using it to dig some of the Sinspawn in the eye so that they'd go blind.

Once Rikku was sure she couldn't do anymore without collapsing and failing everyone, Rikku turned back to see that Lulu had both of her hands up in the air and a ring of what could only be described as holy light surrounded her in a full, glyph-like circle that sparkled with different colours.

The holy light seemed to dissolve into beams of fire, the beams shooting up into the sky to cause a rip in the dark, murky clouds that filled the whole sky up with rainbow lights; the effect making everyone person on board glance up to watch the extraordinary scene of an Aeon being summoned.

Rikku watched on in awe, her eyes wide as what looked like a giant bird seemed to fall from the rip in the sky; its perfect, agile body shocking the breath away from the Al Bhed girl as the bird swirled and spun in around and through the clouds before bursting in a rush of speed downwards to land next to the calm, composed Lulu with an aura of sacredness around her.

The summoner let a gentle hand rest on the bird's head, making the bird coo and caw silently in appreciation.

"Valefor." Lulu spoke callously, eyeing Sin's fin with obvious anger and rage that Rikku had never seen in Lulu before. "Energy Blast."

Valefor cawed once more, the sound sounding more like a siren than anything else as the bird flew up in the multicoloured sky once again and not a second later, let a giant beam of light sink away from its mouth to spit at Sin's fin.

At that instant, the moment Valefor's energy blast had pierced through (however not enough to slice the fin right off) the water around the S.S Liki began to tremble and crash its way over the side of the ship - covering Lulu and the rest of her guardians along with the Besaid Aurochs who were already drenched due to them trying to get everyone back to safety.

"Guys!" Rikku called as she watched the wave crash down onto her companions, springing forward just in time as the harpoon that was sunk into Sin's fin, forced its way forward to fling off the S.S Liki and into the water bellow.

_**

* * *

**_

Lulu silently moved her hand through the air, removing the Protect spell from her, her companions and the rest of the residents on the S.S Liki with a tranquil expression on her face as she did so, studying her surroundings carefully with her cerise eyes.

Sin was long gone, the large shadow of Sin only being seen by crying civilians who were mourning as they watched Sin wreck their beloveds home, Kilika, with its large mass and power that it made Lulu look away at the sight of the creature tearing away Kilika, bit by bit.

Kimhari's hands that had been on her bare shoulders slipped off with haste, his growl signalling to her that her worst suspicions had indeed come true.

Even Wakka noticed as the redhead too scanned the area, his gasps making Lulu even more worried than before thanks to the scenario that Wakka's worried expression was making her plan out.

"Lu? You alright?" Tidus would of course have been the one not to notice anything at all, this revelation making the summoner roll her eyes slightly before answering Tidus.

"I'm fine." Lulu spoke with an agitated edge to her voice, the panic transforming quickly into aggravation despite the voices of 'calm down' that was resounding in her head over and over like a broken record. "But where is Rikku?"

The summoner glanced up at her Ronso guardian. "Where is she?"

The Ronso sniffed the air, his paw coming up to point at a broken rope that Lulu and Rikku had been leaning on when they had talked to each other about half an hour ago before Sin's attack.

"Rikku!" Tidus cried out, startled at the realization and rushing forward only to be grabbed firmly by the wrist by Wakka. "Hey man! Get off! What are you doing?"

"I'll get her!" Wakka yelled over the still loud crashing of the water that surrounded them, nodding at the sullen looking Lulu before diving into the water with a loud crash of waves.

Almost immediately, water welled all around the redheaded blitz ball players body with vicious fury, the silent waves looking for every area possible so that it could trick Wakka into letting go of his breath through his mouth and nose.

It would have worked if he wasn't a blitz ball player, these essentials being the only reason why he could stay under water for such a long time without breaking a sweat or losing air.

The redhead wormed his further down into the ocean, the seaweed tickling his ankles as he kicked at them desperately in an attempt to go down faster towards the destination where he guessed Rikku lay.

For about a minute or so, Wakka did not see the little blonde girl or anything else in that matter until a large group of dolphins passed him - their tails flicking up in panic which just made Wakka arch a questioning eyebrow at them as they passed and instead made his way towards what looked like a unconscious Rikku.

This unconscious Rikku however was not alone in addition to that, Wakka could now understand why the dolphins had swam away as what looked like giant shells started to repeatedly bash against Rikku; making the poor girl fall deeper and deeper into the ocean below.

With an angry grunt, Wakka let his blitz ball (which he had taken from one of the Besaid Aurochs) fly towards the shell Sinspawn in a victorious swing of his muscular arm - the consequences of this action being that the Sinspawn attacking Rikku (even causing some of the bandages Lulu had wrapped around Rikku's back to come undone) fled instantly once the blitz ball had come near them.

They fled, their callous cries and whimpers made Wakka grin and do his own little victory dance under the water yet this was short-lived at the realization that Rikku was still very much unconscious underwater and if he didn't get some Phoenix Down into her soon, she'd be staying underwater forever.

He swam closer to the still blonde girl, holding her in his arms with his one arm while he grabbed a slim bottle of golden liquid out of his pouch just to pour in Rikku's mouth in hope that it would be enough to save Rikku from her death.

Rikku's mouth sparkled in reaction to the golden liquid, this reaction giving Wakka hope and then fulfilling said hope when Rikku's evergreen eyes shot open to stare at Wakka in disbelief at the same time as her body jerking forward so that she not floating on her back anymore.

The redheaded blitz ball captain smirked, giving her a thumbs up before grabbing the blonde by the shoulder just to squeeze lightly in a way to say that he was glad she was alright.

Despite herself, Rikku also smirked and instead of giving the thumbs up - hugged the redhead across the waist before doing backwards somersaults in the water.

Wakka pointed up to the waiting S.S Liki, gesturing for Rikku to follow him as he started to swim up towards the boat.

Rikku nodded at the redhead and she too started to swim up towards the boat, her blonde hair almost making it impossible to do so by how the beads seemed to jab her in the eyes.

'_Rule one for swimming in the ocean Rikku.'_ The blonde Al Bhed thought bitterly, wishing she could roll her eyes without making them all stingy later. '_Don't wear beads, friggen idiot!'_

And then…

'_I hope Lulu's okay…And Kilika.'_

_**

* * *

**_

Pollo laughed as he kicked his blitz ball high up into the roof of his neighbour's hut, his coal eyes gleaming with happiness at the amount of noise of waves crashing that drowned out his squeals.

His laughter would most likely wake his neighbours (they were fairly old y'see) and that would mean more shouting and more yelling and more-

A giant shadow fell over him all of a sudden, said shadow making Pollo look up to see a massive, scale like creature tower over him with humongous eyes that seemed to glare down at him; this sigh making Pollo tilt his head to the side in suspicion at such a creature.

"Hey?"

In response the creature wailed and started to thrash like crazy, the sides of the creature smashing into hut after hut as the creature wailed and shrieked so loudly that it made Pollo cover his ears at such a painful sound that made his ears start to bleed.

"Pollo! Pollo!"

Pollo turned (ears still covered) to see that both his mother and sister were yelling him, ordering him to run with them towards the Kilika jungle.

He didn't want to run. The Kilika jungle was full of snakes, massive bees, generous-sized wolves and many other monsters and fiends that Pollo had managed to run away from before.

"Sin!" A man screamed in the distance, making Pollo turn to see one of the creature's fin come rushing towards him.

_"POLLO!"_

_**

* * *

**_

Lulu watched in silence as Sin tore Kilika apart, her expression as though it was made of stone while her body stiffened uncomfortably against the cold wind that blew across her body.

Seamless. Seamless was the only way Lulu could describe the horrendous attack on Kilika made by Sin.

Seamless.

Everything that Lulu had expected had happened and to her dismay…It had all happened without fault. Without delay.

She had collapsed to her knees - that and there was no where else to sit anyways - with hard cerise eyes studying the horizon where the remains of Kilka lay in wake for her to…To see with her own eyes.

Wakka pressed a wet hand against her bare shoulder; the touch comforting despite the fact it was Wakka who was kind enough to show her this comfort instead of someone who she had expected to give her some sort of false comfort that didn't really do anything apart from make her feel worse about the whole situation.

"You couldn't do anything about it Lu…" Wakka whispered his soft words hesitantly; this hesitation making the summoner close her eyes in shame of herself.

Because Wakka was wrong. She could have done something! Surely if she had tried just a little harder, strived a little more, used more power, asked the captain to use turrets…

No. Pointless. That would have brought Sin's attention onto them and then they would have been torn apart and who would save everyone from Sin then?

Other summoners but Lulu was not one to give up on her duty so early…She wasn't one to give up her duty _at all_, actually…

And then the soaked Al Bhed girl fell to her knees beside her, head between her legs and arms crisscrossing her head almost as if she (like Lulu herself) didn't want to see such a terrible sight any longer.

Concern made Lulu's cerise eyes gleam as she glanced at the shivering Al Bhed girl and in that moment, the summoner found one of her hands rubbing Rikku's tanned arm in what she hoped to be consolation.

_**

* * *

**_

"_When Sin attacked Zanarkand that day…"_

Rikku's swirled eyes glittered with unshed tears at the sight of the trashed Kilika with its palm trees flying high up into the air to join with scraps of metal and rubble to form into a giant hurricane.

_This_. This was all because of _her_. Because of her people. Because of Zanarkand existing. This was all her fault!

All those children, men and women. Dead. Because of her.

"_I woke up in Spira…"_

And she really didn't deserve Lulu's comfort. None of it. Because this was what Lulu was doing right? Comforting her without knowing that she, Rikku, was the one who had crushed Kilika into dust by just _existing_.

"_And even though I've had a ball of a time with Yunie, Tidus…Lulu and the rest. I sorta hoped it would kinda work in reverse. Like a yoyo. Sort of. Do yoyo's work in reverse?"_

"I _must _defeat Sin…"

Rikku turned her head to look at the silent summoner who's hand had removed from her arm to curl into the blue fur that was Kimahri.

The little blonde blitzer gulped at the cold look that had spread across Lulu's face; the look reminding Rikku of when Auron had yelled at her for almost taking out his good eye with a fork when she had gotten mad that he used spaghetti shells and not spaghetti itself.

"I realize that now. That more than ever. I must be the one to defeat Sin."

"Not without us you aren't." Tidus managed to put in, his gloved hand reaching out to take hold of Lulu's free one in a firm grip before pulling away just as quickly - almost as if he had been burned.

Lulu nodded at her blonde friend, a determined expression that Rikku hadn't seen before coming over her features in the shape of a small, jaded smile that told Rikku so much yet kept so much more a secret.

"_But I guess I was just fooling myself…Right?"_

"Elhal. Proud." The Ronso punched himself in the chest to get the black mage's attention to then just gesture up at the pink sky above them all.

Rikku removed her gaze away from the group with her own jaded smile gracing her face; suddenly feeling dirty to look upon the scene that was happening around her - like it wasn't her place to look at the group that had 'pushed' her right into their lives without even questioning what she wanted and what she needed.

She didn't know Elhal like they did so she decided that if anyone wanted to talk about Elhal in front of her then she'd just…Distance herself. For a while at least.

"_Maybe it was that day…At sea. Under the burning sun. Elhal. Companionship I've never really had before."_

Lulu looked up at the horizon with her crimson hues, her face thoughtful looking in a way that Rikku had only seen once when in Lulu's presence - this being the time when they had started talking about Cid back in the café.

"_I started to give up hope…"_

"Perhaps…"

Rikku sighed, getting up from her kneeling position to stand strong against the harsh winds that seemed determined to blow her back down onto her knees.

"Rikku…?" Tidus seemed to call out to her but to be honest…Rikku wasn't even sure what she was hearing anymore.

Ever since Sin had called out to her…Ever since she had been almost killed by Sinspawn under the icy depths of the water…

She just didn't feel right.

"_I was in a parallel universe and it looked like I was stuck in it for good. Without Auron's help anyway…But then again…Was Auron even alive now?"_

Rikku held out a hand to signal to her companions not to follow her, hair covering her face from the rest of them. "I just wanna be alone for a while…"

"B-but-" Tidus started with a stammer, watching the Al Bhed go with curulean eyes open wide.

"Leave her. She just needs time." Lulu ordered Tidus with a quick glance, cerise eyes also following the Al Bhed who climbed up the deck with sluggish movements to help the shocked men and women who had surrounded her with shouts and muttering.

Lulu sighed.

Being a summoner really didn't have its perks…


	7. Chapter 6

_This chapter focuses on the group's arrival to Kilika, the sending, learning more about Lulu, Chappu and Wakka and more Lulu/Rikku moments in between. ;P Thank you ALL for reviewing and you must know that I appreciate every single one of them. =P_

_Oh. And another thing. The Sending takes place at night. KAY? :P_

**Chapter 6**

_-x-_

_I experienced something rather creepy after the sending. _

_Something that just didn't feel right. _

_I spoke words that were not and were my own._

_I felt something. Someone. Inside my very soul._

_And it absolutely terrified me._

_-x-_

Rikku rubbed her watery eyes as she looked over at the sunset where it made Kilika shine out the brightest, her blonde tresses combing over her forehead to shield her eyes from the unforgivable sun.

They'd be reaching Kilika soon by the looks of how the island seemed to be getting closer and closer by the second - these seconds quickly turning into long minutes because of the Al Bhed's refusal to look at the destroyed place where many lives had been lost...

She let a smooth hand slither its way to the skin above her heart to tug loosely at the tanned shell that covered the organ, eyes scrunched up angrily with such utter pain that she hadn't felt at all before until she had come to Spira - the new world she had been looking forward to understanding and exploring.

Now all she wanted was her old life: old friends, old places, old fans, old memories and she wanted them _all_ back so that she wouldn't have to be stuck in such a place like Spira - where death and destruction seemed to rule the majority of the world that was plagued with the illness known as Sin.

She hadn't seen death before. Nope, never ever had she seen death before without any warning or without any hope that the person who died could have been saved.

With a choked up sob that seemed to make her whole body wrack, Rikku rubbed her agitated eyes and cheeks again to try to get rid of the redness that she had managed to work up onto her face due to all her crying.

This was just _so pathetic_. And _stupid_. And all she wanted to do was _scream_ and _yell_ at anyone who came by her, to let them know it wasn't her fault that Kilika had got attacked. It was _their _fault that Kilika had fallen. Stupid, selfish Yevonites who was so busy blaming the Al Bhed that they weren't even aware of how their actions also affected the sickness of the world of Sin.

_No_. It wasn't their fault. It was nobody's fault. But Sin could take all the blame he wanted because it was that stupid metal fish's fault for destroying everything, for destroying something that hadn't done anything wrong, for destroying something that had been the homes of others and for destroying something even more precious than that…

Human life.

With a growl, Rikku jumped up from where she sat on the ship's thick rails and tossed a small rock (she had been keeping it with her just in case the group needed to set up camp and start a fire, it wouldn't be missed anyway seeming as Lulu could practically conjure up fire by just staring, no, glaring at something) out towards the ocean in a fit of rage.

"Take that Sin!" Rikku yelled at the icy depths of water below her and the rest of the ship, her brows furrowed together in complete fury as she took another rock out of her pouch to toss it at the water. "Hope you can feel that! …Somehow!"

And then deciding silently to herself that she had been triumphant in this battle, the Al Bhed girl stuck out her tongue at the sea with a smirk gracing her lips.

A chuckle made Rikku gasp and lose her footing almost immediately after that; result being that the blonde girl fell back from the railings to be caught by warm, feathery arms that held her like a mother would a child that was eager to escape her grasp.

"Your maturity is astounding." Lulu laughed devilishly in Rikku's right ear, causing the Al Bhed girl to go redder than she had ever gone before (beating Wakka's hair colour by her face this time going the same colour as the red scarf around her neck) with a full-grown pout on her red lips.

"Y-you really shouldn't keep doing that y'know?" Rikku squeaked nervously, waving her arms around so much that she was sure she pretty much slapped Lulu across her shoulders more than once in her stage of _'freaked out because this woman is holding me and holy hell I feel like such a dork!'_ that always seemed to appear when Lulu appeared unexpectedly. "And let me up! I feel like I've got no legs."

'_BECAUSE THEY HAVE TURNED TO JELLY! THANKS ALOT LULU.'_ Was also what sprang to Rikku's mind, though she pretty much had the decency not to say anything about her legs resembling and feeling like jelly at the moment.

"You will surely fall if I push you up so…" Lulu trailed off and instead spoke with actions rather than words.

Her porcelain hands wrapped themselves around Rikku's elbow with unbelievable gentleness - not that Rikku could tell because she was pretty much immune to Lulu's touch at the moment, paralysation wasn't exactly the best thing in the world - to proceed to edge Rikku's legs off the rails to then just rest Rikku against her front in hope that would be enough to steady the Al Bhed until she got to her feet.

This proved to be _just_ a hope yet it was also the thing that made Lulu feel a warmth of laughter in the bottom of her stomach.

Rikku had slid down Lulu's front so that she now lay upon the deck of the S.S Liki, eyes wide and her whole body shaken up in such a way that it made Lulu shake her head with a sigh.

"You're hopeless." The summoner commented with another sigh, glancing downwards to let her cerise eyes study the Al Bhed girl's swirled hues with slight, ticklish humour.

Oh, _snap_.

"Hey!" Rikku complained, sitting up to glower and point at the amused summoner in a way that clearly said she was being totally serious about this situation. "I saved your life back there! You owe me!"

"I'll give you that one…" Lulu admitted with a curt nod, letting a hand rest on Rikku's downy, blonde curls before walking towards the thick railings where Rikku had stood on moments before. "Thank you for saving my life then."

With a grin, Rikku arched a brow at the summoner's back in pure curiosity on what was running through Lulu's mind right at this very second.

"You're welcome…" Then when she noticed what she and Lulu was looking out on in the horizon, Rikku turned herself so that she was facing (with head in hands once more) the white masts that pushed them towards Kilika.

"Death is a common thing, Rikku." Lulu murmured all of a sudden; probably seeing that she had turned around to avoid looking at the destination and in her own way (which wasn't a very good way in Rikku's opinion) to comfort her with harsh, truthful words in which Rikku didn't want to listen to.

"It shouldn't be." Rikku argued, burning holes into the masts in a furious attempt not to look over her shoulder to answer Lulu properly.

"Many things shouldn't be. But that doesn't stop them from existing." Lulu continued to explain the way she saw things, unknowingly making Rikku become even more shrouded in confusion and hurt than she had been before Lulu had even arrived. "You for example. You shouldn't exist in this world, yet you do. Death is more common than great things like you, so do not waste tears on the dead for what can you do?"

"Shut _up_!" Rikku yelled all of a sudden, a sudden wave of pain and fury merging into one to give her strength to stand up and to scream at the summoner's back (eyes still avoiding what rested over Lulu's shoulder).

"There are people on this ship who had family there! A-and you act like they were nothing but rag dolls! Show some respect! You know _NOTHING_ of death like they have! Nobody of yours was taken by Sin! So you know _NOTHING_!" Rikku had no idea why she was screaming all of a sudden at the only person who had come up here to comfort her, Rikku had no idea why apart from the fact that she knew very well what frustration can do to you once it is built into full establishment and maybe that is her answer at why she is yelling and screaming so loud at the summoner she is sure that people can hear.

Though despite her yelling, screaming, cursing and whatever you wanted to call it…Rikku could see that Lulu's back had stiffened painfully and that her porcelain digits had curled tightly around the steel railing that looked like it was the only thing keeping Lulu upright.

"And you do?" Lulu chuckled again all of a sudden yet this one sounded nothing like the first time and that in itself made Rikku wary. "All I'm saying is that if you want to mourn the dead, do so by avenging them. And not wasting your tears on them. It causes nothing but pain, so why have that pain when you can take it out on the ones who killed the ones you loved?"

Rikku felt her own fingers uncurl from fists, jade hues glazed over with complete understanding on what Lulu had just said.

Sure it didn't _sound_ very pleasant or very kind, however, that was not the point (it never was when it came from Lulu) but what Lulu was saying _was_ meant to comfort her in a way that would also teach her a lesson; a lesson that she had only thought she could be taught by Auron, her mentor.

It was a lesson on how to grow stronger. If you were weak, you couldn't make it to the end of pilgrimage while if you were strong…

"I-I didn't see it that way…" Rikku stuttered, eyes boring into Lulu's back with such intense awareness that she was half afraid that Lulu could feel her gaze on her.

"Not many people do." The summoner spoke softly, still gazing out at the pinkish horizon, bitterness coating her velvet accent. "But…I understand how you feel and maybe I should not have been so direct and harsh. It was not in my right to do so anyhow…"

"I'm the one who should be saying sorry!" Rikku protested to Lulu's back, both hands folding together to rest on her heart while her tanned features creased together in apology. "I-I shouldn't have said something like that because what do I know, huh? I'm just a…a stupid A-Al Bhed girl who doesn't even belong in this world! So why should I say such stupid things, huh? It isn't in my right, cause I know nothing about you and I-I'm just so d-damn stupid!"

"Please." Lulu whispered gently, turning her whole body to look directly at the shivering Al Bhed blitzer.

Rikku flinched at the approaching summoner, arms covering her head just in case Lulu decided to hit her for being an idiot and completely stuttering like an ill-mannered servant girl (well, saying that, she probably WAS a servant girl compared to Lulu) who had ate too much sugar or something.

"Please." Lulu repeated; gripping Rikku's crisscrossed wrists to pry them away from the Al Bhed's head, crimson orbs softening gently at how the Al Bhed girl seemed to shy away from her touch even though she knew that trying to move would be pointless because of the summoner's tight grip.

"There is no need to say sorry…" Lulu let go of Rikku's wrists once she has gotten them off Rikku's head and instead directed her pale hands so that they were removing sweaty blonde tresses that were sticking to Rikku's feverish, unhealthy tomato-like forehead.

"You will become ill if you react like this every time I try to help you get over such troublesome things…" And then, a slight smile that unexpectedly forces Rikku's face into one almost by instinct. "Maybe I shouldn't talk to you any longer?"

At this, Rikku broke down into giggles and hid her red face in awkward embarrassment. "You SUCK at comforting, y'know that right?"

"I'm not here to comfort. I'm here to learn." Lulu replied almost robotically, her small smile the only proof that it was indeed the summoner replying and not some clone of some sort.

"Well…Looks like I've got to _teach _you how to comfort, right?" Rikku smirked coyly, playfully punching the older woman's shoulder in slight hesitation - for nobody knows when they might receive a lightning bolt up their butt, right?

"Let's hope not, hm?" Lulu said with a tilt of her head, acknowledging the blonde Al Bhed with a small curve of her lips.

Rikku smirked in response, wrapping her arms around the back of her head to lean against them.

It was wrong to feel a bit mischievous after what had happened but Rikku couldn't help herself, Lulu made her feel happy and impish in a way that she had never experienced before.

But if Lulu didn't mind then it was okay, right? Yeah. Sure. It had to be right so no worries, right? Right!

"Lu?"

Both of them turned around at the same time, Rikku in mild disappointment that they had been interrupted by the redheaded Wakka whilst Lulu just arched a delicate brow as if to question Wakka's sudden appearance.

"We're arriving in a few minutes, might wanna make yourself prepared ya?" Wakka nodded at the summoner before letting his gaze fall on Rikku; he looked displeased to see her with Lulu but kept his mouth shut about that entirely and instead said:

"Ya coming Rik?

The blonde was about to shake her head when Lulu spoke for her. "Yes, she's coming. I'll join with you shortly."

"Huh?" Rikku looked at the summoner with her expression scrunched up in confusion, didn't Lulu want her here or something? Had she done something wrong again without realizing?

"Go." Lulu commanded harshly, sending a cold, hard stare in Rikku's direction that struck Rikku off guard.

"Uh…Okay then." Rikku mumbled, rubbing the back of her head as she proceeded to skip away from the tensed up summoner to stalk past Wakka.

Sheesh. Did that woman have mood swings or what? Oh well, time to find Tidus! Or Kimahri even!

Wakka watched the hyper little blonde go, his features darkening horribly at the thoughts that seemed to fill his mind like ants infesting a particular food with greedy vigour.

"Why do you stare at her with so much hate?" Lulu spoke up all of a sudden, her voice tearing the redheaded captain away from Rikku to face the summoner.

"I don't hate her!" Wakka snapped angrily, his bright eyes narrowing slightly when they met Lulu's cerise ones. "All I wanna know is why she's coming with us to the Moonflow when I promised her we'd find someone in Luca."

Instead of actually continuing with their conversation, Lulu waved that conversation away with a hand. "Leave me Wakka. You trouble your mind with so many trivialities it's unbelievable."

"You're gonna hurt that girl, Lu. I just don't wanna see her face when you do that!" Wakka spat venomously, turning around to shoot the last remark over his shoulder. "You watch Lu, you just watch."

Lulu watched the blitzer go, cerise hues hardening dramatically at the redhead's taut back.

She feared what her friend had said despite not showing any sign of it, but she did fear…She feared more than she could have imagined.

_

* * *

_

Upon arriving in Kilika, Rikku was quite surprised at how beautiful the place was even though it had just been the location of mass destruction a few hours ago.

Palms trees were scattered around the wooden planks that kept them from falling into the cool cold water below, but that did not stop Rikku from seeing the beauty of the pink sky that made the water below them shine gently with outstanding magnificence it would probably have brought Auron to tears.

Not that Rikku had ever seen her mentor cry and now that she thought about it; it would probably be really creepy at that.

And nobody even looked at her angrily either! Well, she hadn't really looked anyone in the eye because she was practicing trying to walk in a straight line without bumping anyone by simple looking at her feet, so far, she was doing quite spectacular.

"Lady Summoner!" A young woman approached the group, shocking Rikku into looking up to see that the young woman had tears running down her eyes in such tremendous speed that Rikku couldn't even tell the colour of this woman's eyes.

"Celia…" An old man approached the young woman, his wrinkled hands pressing down hard onto the woman's shoulders in an attempt to calm her.

The woman broke away from his grip and instead latched herself onto Lulu's long, black sleeves - this event making both Wakka and Kimahri instantly close around Lulu's sides in a protective stance.

"Lady Summoner, please! My boy! My boy Pollo! S-sin took him! I c-cannot f-find his body! Please Lady S-" To Rikku's surprise, Lulu intervened the woman's stutters with a slight cough - shocking the woman into silence.

"I am sorry my dear woman." Lulu spoke sombrely, truly sounding sympathetic for the poor woman in front of them. "It may not seem much but I will try to reach for him when I perform Kilika's sending."

The dark-haired summoner then glanced at the old man next to the young woman (who still held on to her sleeves like her life depended on it) with a pointed arch of her chocolate-coloured brows. "If that is what you wish?"

In reply, the old man bowed his head in respect. "We would feel honoured if you performed our sending, Lady Summoner."

Wakka gently pried the woman named Celia off Lulu's sleeves, taking her to one side with his massive, muscular arms and strength to try and console her in his own way; giving Lulu the space she needed so that the summoner wouldn't feel any more pressure than she most likely already felt.

Lulu nodded her thanks to the redhead and proceeded to follow the old man and the rest of his followers down one route where the paths lay split into two, Lulu taking the route to her left (along with Kimahri) which pretty much left Rikku, Tidus and Wakka alone together.

"Should we try to help around town?" Rikku questioned her fellow blonde, scratching her head as she observed the chaos around her.

Tidus shook his head in response, nodding towards Wakka who still held the sobbing Celia in her arms. "Nah, Wakka and the boys will help the village out. Right now, we've gotta go with Lulu to go see her perform the sending for Kilika and then once that is done…We'll probably have to get some rest."

Rikku let her lips curve up into a very bemused smile at that, following Lulu with her eyes slightly while trying to look like she wasn't looking Lulu up or anything - which she wasn't okay? She just wanted to know where Lulu was going, okay? She was _so_ not looking Lulu up. Okay?

Rikku brushed her eyesight away from Lulu's form to meet Tidus's amused cobalt eyes with a soft glare and a pout, her arms folding together to give Tidus the look she had nicknamed 'Miss Attitude'.

"What?" Rikku squeaked, frustrated at Tidus's silence and how her face seemed to be getting hotter by the minute.

"Nothing." Tidus answered quickly, turning his gaze away from the blonde Al Bhed's to hide his sneaky smirk.

"What?" Rikku found herself saying again, more irritated than the first time at the slight paranoia that Tidus was most likely making fun of her.

"Nothing!" Tidus answered, actually looking at the Al Bhed, yet he himself had not got the willpower to hide his smirk from her.

"Stop it!" Rikku growled angrily, looking to her left and then to her right - to see if anyone apart from Wakka was watching - before plonking Tidus on the head once again.

"Stop what?" Tidus laughed slightly, rubbing the forming bruise on his head with an impish grin - though he tried to hide it knowing that it wouldn't be respectful at such a troubling time.

"You know what I'm talking about!" Rikku complained in exasperation, finding it necessary to punch Tidus in the gut this time instead of the head.

"Fine! Fine! Just stop punching me already!" The blonde blitzer yelped, blocking most of Rikku's punches with his hands as the Al Bhed continued to rain these punches on his body.

"ANYWAY!" Rikku continued, glaring at the blonde blitzer slightly while she continued her sentence. "So…What's a sending? Like, does Lulu have to send a letter to someone or something? The gates of death or something? I mean…What the heck is a sending, huh?"

"By all of Yevon…" Tidus groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose in vexation at the blonde girl's dense mind that held nothing of this world. "Are you seriously telling me you don't know what a sending is?"

In response, Rikku stuck out her tongue.

"Right…Of course you don't. You're from another world." Tidus muttered, shaking his head slightly, then remembering that that he wasn't supposed to say that with Wakka near by, quickly looked back to see that Wakka was far too busy holding the woman named Celia and commanding his boys to get to work on Kilika's destruction.

"Well done Mr Obvious!" Rikku snapped haughtily, impatient at being made to wait for her explanation. "Now tell me what a sending is before I shove my foot so high up your butt that your -"

"A sending is a dance!" Tidus explained with a strained cheery smile, hands up in the air just in case Rikku decided to make good of her word and actually do what she had planned to do anyway even after he had explained.

"A…Dance?" Rikku pronounced the word warily, her emerald eyes looking Tidus up and down in complete disbelief.

"Yes." Tidus said with a curt nod, smiling at how Rikku's disbelief quickly turned into something that looked like animated curiosity.

"Like…Belly dancing?" Rikku asked, gesturing to her stomach before shaking her hips side-to-side to put emphasis onto her sentence.

"No!" Tidus cried out, pinching the bridge of his nose once more at how completely irritating the Al Bhed girl was when it came to these sort of things - that and how she managed to make him blush like crazy without meaning to due to her being clueless. "Why on earth would Lulu belly dance for the dead?"

"It was just a thought! I didn't say she DID belly dance!" Rikku argued, scowling at her fellow blonde before kicking him in the shins for payback.

Seeing Tidus hopping on one foot certainly made Rikku laugh like crazy…Tidus on the other hand wasn't so amused.

"Yeah, well!" Tidus growled through his gritted teeth, massaging his injured foot before gesturing with a finger the path where Lulu had stalked off to. "Follow Lulu and you'll see what a sending is, won't ya? That and you'll stop hitting me…"

And with a quick quirk of her lips, Rikku plonked the blitzer on the head once more before dancing out of his reach to follow Lulu down the path where the 'sending' would be held.

"Ugh! Wait until I get my hands on you, shortie!" Tidus cried out, rushing after the Al Bhed.

_

* * *

_

Suddenly, before Rikku herself knew it, she and Tidus had arrived in a clearing where Lulu stood with Kimahri talking to the old man that had approached them when they had gotten off the S.S Liki; the summoner looking surprisingly calm despite the atmosphere she was in.

The dead (or who Rikku believed to be the dead) lay in the calm water of pink water lilies, their 'beds' of wood encasing them so that their loved ones wouldn't have to see the lifeless eyes of their beloved and to remember, to remember what had happened though Rikku doubted that this day would ever leave Kilika's mind even if nobody _had_ died.

"So y'know a Sending right?" Rikku nudged Tidus, noticing that the blonde hadn't moved into help Lulu at all and was perfectly fine sitting further back where they wouldn't be noticed.

"Right…" Tidus nodded warily, wondering where Rikku was going with this as who knew where Rikku was going with serious things like this?

"Does Lulu send all these people somewhere? Like I dunno. Somewhere like heaven?" Rikku questioned, wrinkling her nose in curiosity.

Damn, Spira's ways weren't half confusing. I mean, a sending? Maybe it was some sort of funeral that Spira held when people died? Probably. Why couldn't they just call it funeral though? C'mon, a sending? What sort of name was that?

"What's heaven?" Tidus scratched his forehead in confusion, his cobalt eyes literally wide and perplexed at what Rikku had said - and what Rikku had thought - to be pretty simple.

"Where dead people go…Y'know!" Rikku jumped up on her heels slightly, motioning towards the cerise sky above them.

"The Farplane?" Tidus said, also pointing his hand up into the sky to emphasise that he knew was Rikku was talking about.

"Nooo!" Rikku stomped her foot hard, causing a few heads to turn and look at them in silent anger at such a hyperactive pair of blondes. "Y'know what I mean! HEAVEN!"

In panic at the even more disapproving glances they were getting, Tidus clamped a hand over Rikku's mouth in desperation.

"Grrr!" Rikku growled behind his hand, her emerald eyes flashing dangerously in warning before the Al Bhed girl started pointing at her fellow blonde and then at her fists and then at the sky.

"Yeah I get what you're saying." Tidus said, rolling his eyes at the blonde's actions before starting again. "The Farplane is where all the souls go when they leave their earthly bodies so I guess it is a bit like that heaven place you mentioned. Or I think it is anyway."

Rikku stopped wrestling Tidus and instead remained still, her eyes fixed on the Auroch with curious bewilderment.

She motioned up to the sky and then to the bodies that rested in the water around them.

Tidus nodded. "Yeah. They go to the Farplane and I guess the people in Zanarkand go to heaven, right?"

He removed his hand from Rikku's face wearily - hovering over the girl's red lips just in case she decided that it would be okay to start yelling again which would cause more trouble than it was worth.

"Well yeah. But you still haven't told me why you have to perform a sending to send the dead dudes and dudettes to the Farplane. I mean, what's the point of a sending anyway?" Rikku whispered quickly, glancing over to where Lulu was to perform the sending.

"Oh man…" Tidus groaned, placing his face in the palm of his hand at such mind-blowing interest that was surprisingly causing him stress. "How can I explain this to you without sounding like I'm explaining why the ocean ripples?"

Unable to stop herself, Rikku let out an immature giggle that she had been desperately trying to keep in.

"Ripples." Giggle.

"By all of Yevon, you really can't be serious for a moment can you?" Tidus scowled, punching Rikku lightly on her arm. "Listen to what I'm saying already!"

"_Okay! I'm being serious now_! _Oh wise one!_" Rikku whispered, pulling her lips together into an almighty frown that made the other blonde arch a brow at the picture the Al Bhed girl had placed in front of him.

"Rikku."

The Al Bhed girl sighed and straightened her back. "Fine. I'm actually being serious now. Start explaining before my brain explodes."

Tidus observed her silently for a moment before nodding and turning his body to face the bodies that lay in the water.

"Lulu performs a dance called the Sending and when she does this, she…How can I put it? She sort of cuts these people's souls from their earthly bodies to go to the Farplane." Tidus explained, gesturing to a casket that rested by Rikku with a nudge of his head in that general direction. "If they don't get sent to the Farplane they become the creatures that damaged your back…Nobody wants their family to become one of _them_." Tidus spat out the last part in disgust, cobalt eyes crinkled up in pure anger at the thought.

Rikku felt her eyes widen largely at what her fellow blonde blitzer had said, jade eyes glancing over to the wooden casket and then wandering over to her arms to look at the scratches that had been left by the fiends in Zanarkand.

"T-those things are people?" Rikku squeaked, flashes of metallic, crab-like creatures clawing at her back. "Y-y'know? The fiends? They're…_people_?"

"Not anymore." Tidus responded morosely, shaking his head to get rid of the tears that had started to sprout at the corner of his eyes. "_Sin_ changed that. When people die, some still wish to live on and envy the living - even going close enough to hating them. Therefore, they become fiends."

Rikku arched a blonde eyebrow at her friend and almost instantly hugged his arm with such a tight grip that Rikku heard Tidus let out a little groan.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Rikku called up to Tidus's morose-looking face with a cheerful grin - half hoping that this cheerfulness would rub off on her friend - and cute, crinkling emerald eyes. "Let's go kick Sin's butt, yeah? Right now!"

And then (to Tidus's amusement), Rikku turned to skip away with her braids brushing high in the air and her hands twirling in such a way that it made Rikku look like she was performing a dance of her own.

"Hey!" Tidus called out to the Al Bhed, reaching forward to spin Rikku around to face him properly. "We can't defeat Sin without Lulu y'know? We need to defeat Sin together! Like a real team!"

Rikku's eyes lit up in excitement and she pumped her fist up in the air. "Yeah! Totally! We're going to kick Sin's butt together, right? Woo!" The Al Bhed squealed after, jumping up slightly in the air at the same time as clapping her hands like a complete lunatic.

"Yeah! High five!" Tidus cheered himself, holding up a hand which Rikku slapped her own palm against with a merry giggle that sent a shiver down the blonde blitzers spine.

Their loud noise brought Lulu's eyes towards them both; the effect on Tidus making the blitzer grin and give the summoner a good luck thumbs up while Rikku only had to look into the summoner's cerise arms and stumbled, only being saved by Tidus's arms waiting out to grab her.

"Aww man…" Rikku groaned in embarrassment, clawing at her long, beaded hair so that it covered her red face.

Tidus looked down at her in his arms and laughed. "What's up? What's got you so red in the face, eh?"

"Nothing!" Rikku squealed, still clawing at her hair in an attempt to make sure that both Lulu and Tidus hadn't seen anymore of her expression. "Is _she_ still watching me?"

"Who?" Tidus chuckled again, faking innocence with his good-guy smile that seemed to woo everyone into loving him.

"Shut _up_!" Rikku growled under her breath, knowing perfectly well what Tidus was playing at and deciding that she SO wasn't in the mood for playing these sort of games. "My face isn't red, my hands aren't sweaty and I'm totally cool!"

Tidus held in his laugh and instead poked the side of the Al Bhed's head, teasingly grinning at her despite the fact that Rikku couldn't see him anyway.

"…Like a cucumber?" Tidus suggested, poking Rikku in the side of her head once again.

"Yes! Exactly!" Rikku jumped out of Tidus's arms, nodding vigorously at him. "Like a cucumber!"

"Kimahri does not understand. Cucumbers are cool?"

Rikku shrieked at the loud voice (or should she say growl?) that came from behind her, making her jump once again into Tidus's arms with a whimper.

"Uhm, no Kimahri. Figure of speech." Tidus explained, dropping the trembling Rikku with a forced grin at his old friend.

"Silence then. Sending start. Lulu…Nervous."

Kimahri moved slightly so that he was standing next to the fellow guardian, nose crinkling at the Al Bhed that had settled on the floor at their feet to stare intently at the stiff Lulu who by the looks of it was finding it hard to move.

Rikku watched the summoner with child-like glee in her eyes, her jade hues shining as the summoner turned and proceeded to…

Walk on water?

The Al Bhed girl immediately sat up on her knuckles, eyes wide and starry-eyed at the summoner whose feet seemed to skim and caress the cherry blossom petals that rested on the water's surface; all of this making Rikku's knuckles turn white in anticipation.

"Whooaaa-aargh!" Rikku's awed gasp immediately became muffled as Tidus's hand clamped over her mouth, silencing her quite effectively.

Singing. Sweet, so sweet that it hurt. Rikku had never heard such a melodious sound before in her whole life; never heard of something so beautiful it actually made her pay attention to what was going around her.

Candles. Torches. Everywhere. The whole place has been lit up, shrouding the darkening Kilika (in mood and in environment) with a veil of luminosity and pure icy, blue fire that sent the smell of pine up the Al Bhed girl's nostrils.

Biting into Tidus's fingers, Rikku let out another awed gasp, however, this time she kept her eyes on Lulu's (now bare) feet that were skimming the water's surface as if the summoner was made for this, made for being so exotically beautiful and made for doing something so selfless and yet so sad.

"Where's that singing coming from?" Rikku whispered behind her shoulder quickly before glancing back just as quick, not wanting to miss anything of what Lulu was performing.

"The Fayth." Tidus responded back simply, shrugging his shoulders at her as if she had said something completely stupid.

'_Oh yeaaaahhh. The Fayth are something that's in Lulu's soul or something like that. I think Tidus was telling me 'bout it. I wasn't really listening I guess!'_

Whatever, Rikku didn't have any time to think about this sorta stuff anyway. She was far too busy.

She glanced up to where Lulu was and was startled to see that the summoner was unsheathing a rather long katana that seemed to gleam in the light that the torches brought in the cold, misted night.

'_Hey…When did Lulu even get a katana? Auron's got one like that, but it's larger and thicker.'_ Then another thought came to Rikku's mind; this particular thought chilling her right to the bone. '_W-what if Lulu IS Auron? Oh my gosh! That would-!'_

"Oh wait. Lulu said her father knew Auron. Silly me!" Rikku giggled quietly to herself, sliding down onto her stomach so that she was just about peering over the edge into the ice-cold water where the dead lay; examining how the ties that bound them to the docks started to glow a bright pink colour.

The singing suddenly grew louder, the change of pitch making the Al Bhed turn her head to see that Lulu had begun to weave her katana in different directions; taking swipes at the air, twirling in full circles, moving to the left and then to the right and finally bringing her sword up high into the air to crash down into the water.

The pink ties that had wounded around the caskets of the dead broke all of a sudden, moving further downwards into the water until Rikku had to literally place her head in to be able to see the caskets sinking further into the depths of the treacherous sea below Kilika.

"W-wow!" Rikku spluttered at the tall, blue feline once she had brought her head from out of the water; a large grin on her face. "Hey Kimahri! Did you know that all the caskets are just going deeper under the sea?"

The feline glanced at her, his vivid yellow hues sizing her up in a way that told the Al Bhed girl that she most likely wouldn't like the answer that would come out of Kimahri's mouth.

"Fayth collect the dead. Do not sink. Collect." The feline's nose crinkled again. "Like Rikku needs to collect soap."

Turning fire-engine red, Rikku folded her arms and shot a glare at the giant cat; turning away once more to see that Lulu was still weaving around the water like a ballet dancer - coiling and twisting her sword in so many directions that it all became a beautiful blur.

And then…Something appeared right underneath Lulu's feet that Rikku hadn't noticed before - what with her talking with Kimahri and her head being underwater for most of the time - until the summoner started moving once again.

Pyreflies.

Tidus had explained what they were to her when they were just about to board the S.S Liki and surprisingly enough, this time she HAD actually been listening to her fellow blonde blitzer.

Pyreflies were something which Rikku guessed was a person's soul, something that dissolved away from your body when you got killed and so these Pyreflies were what Rikku believed to be a person's utter being…

Lulu was sending them to the Farplane with her dancing. Rikku actually understood now.

The Pyreflies seemed to dance around the summoner, curling and looping around Lulu's thin blade of steel in way that made Rikku wonder if this particular katana was made for sendings or if it was merely an object that Lulu brought out whenever the going got tough against fiends.

And…Oddly enough.

It was beautiful enough to bring a tear down Rikku's face. She hadn't been expecting it, in fact Rikku had thought that her emotions were well checked out enough that even if she felt like she was going to sob her heart out, she'd instead smile and put a brave face on.

Evidently, this particular moment caught her off guard.

Maybe it was because she knew that these people were dead because of her world existing, maybe it was because everything she had grown up with was so robotic, so mechanical that it didn't compare to the absolute magnificence of this sinned and broken world.

And then it was _over_.

_

* * *

_

"Woo! Wait a go Lulu!" Rikku jumped once she heard Tidus yell behind her, startled so much that she immediately went to hide behind one of Kimahri's large, muscular legs.

The priests that had been waiting on the sideline bowed their heads respectfully at Lulu and starting to perform Yevon's prayer; altogether a rather magical sight even for a little Al Bhed like her.

Lulu, however, looked up at Tidus with a nod, brushing past the mourners who had come to see their family off to stand in front of her two guardians with a rather stiff posture - her hands gripped into firm fists from what Rikku could see behind Kimahri's fur.

"Well done Lu, you did great!" Tidus cheered encouragingly, pumping his fist up in the air and after that grasping the summoner's shoulder with his firm, gloved hand. "That was the best sending Kilika was ever gonna get, you should be really proud y'know?"

Lulu nodded awkwardly, brushing her dark brunette fringe from out of her eyes with a weary sigh. "Thank you but I feel as if we should get some rest. It is a long day for us tomorrow."

"Yeah, probably. You want me to get Wakka?" Tidus asked with a hopeful expression. Hope being that Lulu had changed her mind about Wakka and was in a good enough mood for her to be civil with the redheaded Auroch.

"Hn. Let him find his own way back. It will give him a chance to show me he isn't as exactly as senseless as he shows off to be." Lulu crossed her arms then, a small, sour smirk on her expression.

"…Right." Tidus nodded with a weak laugh, accepting Lulu's answer with a hole in his heart. He really hated it when is two best friends fought and over something so stupid it was unbelievable.

Rikku hadn't done anything wrong. And yet, it was because of her that Lulu and Wakka were fighting. It boggled Tidus's mind in ways logic wouldn't even begin to help him or make him understand the situation.

Noticing the Al Bhed girl's gaze on him, Tidus turned to give the girl a small smile in hope that it would get the girl's jade swirled eyes away from him.

It worked and instead the Al Bhed turned her attention back onto Lulu; a wide and perky smile on her face.

Not the result Tidus had wanted.

"Hey Lulu!" Rikku had jumped up and rushed towards the summoner, pointing wildly at the leather sheath that was hidden between her many belts. "Where didja get that thing from?"

The summoner looked at her oddly for a moment before gaze softened and her hands quickly patted the sheath where her father's katana lay. "A gift. From my father. The last time I saw him, in fact."

"Ooohh!" Rikku cooed, tilting her head to the side to study the katana briefly for a moment until Lulu started to speed up her walking, rushing past the Al Bhed and towards the curve that she and Tidus has just come from to get towards the Sending in the first place.

"Hey Lu! Wait for us!" Rikku heard Tidus cry out and she immediately set after her tormenter with a steady jog.

The group (minus Tidus who along with Kimahri had gone to help around the village, leaving Rikku, Lulu and the stumbling Wakka alone) arrived at one of the Inn's that hadn't been damaged to badly in Sin's attack; all three of them looking washed out from today's experience.

The Inn they would be staying in was just like the others huts of Kilika but larger - this fact making Rikku wonder how on earth did the Inn manage to stay intact against Sin's attack - therefore that meant there would be more than enough rooms so they wouldn't have to share. Rikku had bad memories of sleepovers, so that was ONE reason why she didn't want to be sharing rooms.

That and what if Lulu made her pair with Kimahri? The feline would just grunt at her and force her into a bath ("_Well I was going to have one ANYWAY! But you get my point y'know what I mean?"_)

The receptionist - who held bags under her eyes so large that Rikku could relate to it exactly - greeted them with a forced smile, arms performing the Yevon's prayer almost immediately once she had set her gaze on them.

"Lady Summoner." The receptionist whispered, her dark skin flushed and looking incredibly unhealthy. "We have rooms available but I'm afraid that we don't have enough for all your companions. I apologize." She bowed again.

Rikku suppressed a heavy sigh and stuck her hand up in the air. "I'll sleep outside. That's what normal heathens do, right?"

Lulu just took one look at her with hardened cerise orbs and Rikku shrunk back behind Wakka's back, blushing insanely at how stupid that little speech of hers made her sound - the sad thing however was that Lulu hadn't even glared at her either or gave her a look that would make most men keen over.

The dark-haired woman turned back to the receptionist with a slight nod. "We'll take anything you give us. Thank you for your hospitality." The summoner then placed a hand out towards the woman. "How many rooms did you say you had to give us? Please spare one for your family however."

Rikku arched a blonde eyebrow at Lulu's remark and glanced around the large hut; surprised to see that many people (these people resembling the woman serving them) were scattered across the floor with heads resting against crumpled up clothing.

"Oh no Lady Summoner! You and your companions will need much more rest than us! We insist! Besides, there are barely enough for you all! We only have four rooms left!" The receptionist seemed to plead, looking heartbroken at the implication that Lulu wanted her family safer than she herself needed to be for the long journey ahead.

"Hey." Rikku intervened, stepping forward with her hands high above her head - almost as if she had been caught robbing someone. "Why don't the children have my room, yeah? I don't mind sleeping down here."

Lulu immediately glanced at her, waving a hand to dismiss what she had said like she was waving goodbye to a passing thought. "You need your rest too. You and I will just have to share a room."

Despite the fact that she and Lulu were both very much young women; Rikku found herself giggling nervously to herself. "W-what? S-share rooms?"

"Unless you would prefer to share a room with Kimahri." Lulu answered quickly with a well-hidden quirk of her lips; most likely knowing that Rikku would rather sleep in a room full of snakes than sleep in the same room as the silent Ronso warrior.

The Al Bhed ducked her head down, glowing red with mortification. "I'm good with sharing a room with you."

"Good. Now that we have that settled. How much are these rooms?" Lulu asked, folding her arms together - unknowingly (in Rikku's opinion) making the receptionist shrink away from the summoner, almost as if she was afraid.

"For free of course! We would never charge a summoner even in dire situations such as these. Please. Your rooms are upstairs. Enjoy your stay." The receptionist performed Yevon's prayer once more and rushed towards her post, yelling at a random kid that had started using a bit of wood hanging from the ceiling as a climbing frame.

Lulu merely nodded and proceeded to walk up the spiralling wooden stairs, grabbing three sets of keys off the post as she did so, leaving both Rikku and Wakka alone together since yesterday when they had been in the Cloister of Trials.

Deciding not to risk their already almost non-existent friendship, Rikku sighed and started to follow after the summoner when she felt the redhead grab her wrist and tug her away from the direction she had been planning to go.

"Hey, needa talk to you." Wakka whispered quietly yet when he caught Rikku's petrified look in her jade green eyes he laughed out loud in his booming voice. "What's that look on ya face for ya? Only wanna talk about something."

If she could of without looking suspicious in the slightest, Rikku would have sighed in relief. Instead she settled on giving the redhead a shaky grin, scratching the back of her neck nervously.

"Sure…But why are we leaving Lulu? We're her guardians, remember?" Rikku reminded the redhead with a sharp tap of her knuckles against his forehead, grinning widely.

"Yeah, but c'mon Rikku? Who's going to hurt her from upstairs?" Wakka laughed again, running his fingers through her blonde locks with a gentle pat of his hands - earning him a punch in the ribs because if anyone knew Rikku well enough, they knew that place was sacred only for her special someone.

Lance and her had a special someone conversation once. Lance had said that she should wait for her soulmate to find her. She had replied that if EVERYONE did that method then the world's population would die out. He hadn't been happy after her answer and they hadn't talked for about two weeks until Auron was sick of her moping and told her to go say sorry.

Wakka - taking her silence as an answer - turned to walk out of the hut, his arms folded behind his head and only stopped when both himself and Rikku was just outside the Inn's reception.

"Y'know, as an answer to your rather stupid question." Rikku laughed sweetly, pretending to push up some imaginary glasses up her nose in a nerd-like fashion. "The whole hut could have been soaked through when Sin attacked. Therefore, the wood would have got damp and all soggy."

Twirling in a full circle, Rikku did a little run and jumped onto the redhead's shoulders with a full blown laugh; causing Wakka to shiver and drop her due to the loud noise.

Though she was on her butt - now probably sore at the drop distance - Rikku continued with her speech. "So. According to my calculations…" Again, the Al Bhed girl pretended to punch her digits into a calculator. "Damp wood would collapse. Lulu would be hurt. And whose fault would it be, huh captain?"

Wakka just shook his head, stifling a laugh behind the back of his hand before using said hand to whack the girl's forehead lightly.

"HEY!" Rikku groaned, clutching at her forehead.

"Aye! I'm trying to be serious here ya? Ya making me lose concentration. It's bugging me!" Wakka complained, reminding Rikku of Tidus at how solemn the tone was.

Must be serious.

"Fine Sir Serious Wakka. I'll listen to what you've gotta say." Rikku grinned, leaning back against the wood panels to gaze intently up at the dark velvet sky above her.

'_Hey. Stars. Zanarkand never had stars.'_ At that thought, the ache in Rikku's stomach seemed to dull a little.

A cough. It seemed like one of those coughs that Rikku used to do whenever she wanted to try to clear the tension. Auron had got sick of it once. He had been talking with some random idiot that Rikku never knew of and apparently they hadn't seen each other for a while.

Yeah well, unluckily for them she had been at home when they had met though in Rikku's opinion, it wasn't her fault exactly that Auron's friend had to leave so 'suddenly' after her joining in their conversations.

But what happened was stupid. Auron would talk. Pause. His friend would talk. Pause. Then it happened. Over and over again until Rikku started coughing whenever they stopped talking (which happened quite a lot) intentionally just to make them annoyed.

Fun times, fun times!

"Aye…Not tryna put you in a hard position here but I guess ya know bout…Ya know…What happened the night you came to Besaid. Between me and Lu." Wakka stumbled with his words, rubbing his knuckles in frustration, looking like he wanted nothing but to get this conversation over with.

Rikku gulped, jolting upwards with her bottom lip already bitten into shreds. How the hell did Wakka know she had been there?

As if the redhead could read her thoughts, Wakka grinned at her. "Dontcha worry. I aye angry with you. I understand ya? Well…I know how confused you must be about the whole topic."

Wakka sighed again, proceeding to sit down in front of the Al Bhed with both hands firmly latched onto his knees in a way that made the Besaid Auroch look completely guarded; guarded by his own emotional strength that Rikku had seen in him the first time she had met the redhead.

"Sorry bout that…Well…How to start, heh-heh…" Wakka placed a hand over his left eye, giving a long yawn. "My brother was Chappu. Ya know that right?"

Swallowing her saliva to try and give her throat some water to allow her to speak, Rikku nodded. "Yeah and I…" The Al Bhed girl looked around to see if anyone else was listening. When realizing that they were indeed alone, she turned her eyesight back in the direction of her fellow blitzer. "Know about _Lulu n' Chappu _too."

"Aye…Thought ya did. Tidus told me just as much." Wakka grumbled slightly under his breath, still looking completely tired and deadbeat than he had before the arrival to Kilika.

"Sooo…" Rikku blew out wind from her lips, making a 'brr' sound whilst watching different sorts of emotions smother themselves over Wakka's face. "Where is Chappu anyway? I didn't see him in Besaid and-"

"He's dead Rikku."

"…Wha?" Rikku gasped out, shocked at the sudden bluntness (not to mention sharpness) of Wakka's words. "H-how?"

"Chappu was with the Crusaders ya? Ya know who they are right?" Wakka asked her with a shrug of his shoulders; his expression dark.

Rikku (still pretty shocked at how blunt Wakka was being with such a delicate subject) shook her head hastily. "Nope. What are they? Knights in shining armour sorta thing?"

"Ayyeee! Rikku! Didn't you look around Besaid like I told ya to?" Wakka moaned, flicking her in the forehead with a grunt. "You wudda known this stuff if ya had! Sheesh!"

"Awww!" Rikku moaned, rubbing fiercely at her forehead while shooting Wakka a playful glare. "I was too tired to look around! I was like eating my sandwich and then it just got all blurry and I was like Zzzzzz…"

"Ya. I get it." Wakka sighed heavily and flexed his muscles with a stretch of his arms before continuing. "Well, how can I put this? The Crusaders are warriors who fight solely to protect Spira from Sin, they give their lives to protect Sin and they do it without hesitation ya? That's who the Crusaders are. That's what Chappu was."

"Oh…So…What happened with Chappu and the Crusaders then?" Rikku reached over to poke Wakka's forehead lightly, smiling softly in a way that she used whenever she was trying to make someone feel that they could say anything and she wouldn't judge them - well she wouldn't, but at least she didn't try to make herself look big (though the big part would never happen in the first place) and menacing like Auron usually did.

"Well…Chappu died when he fought Sin with the Crusaders last year." Wakka said with a shrug of his shoulders and a tight smile which led Rikku into forcing a smile of her own at the redhead. "He just didn't make it. Used some Al Bhed machina weapon instead of the sword I got for him. Bah."

Suddenly Rikku felt her whole stomach drop at the words that she had just heard. Al Bhed machina weapons. _Al Bhed_.

"Used a damn gun over the weapon I made for him." Wakka growled, shaking his head angrily. "Why in Yevon's name would the Crusaders use something a stinkin' Al Bhed made ya? Sin wiped them out in Djose. Most of them anyway."

Rikku felt it was best to remain silent and let Wakka rant; it was his way of hardening up to what life threw at him and for that reason, Rikku was starting to respect the Auroch a little more.

"Never found the body. Crushed. Left him to be washed away." Wakka placed his head in his hands. "He was gonna propose to Lu too…If the Aurochs won, Chappu wudda proposed to her."

'_Wow…No wonder Lulu sounded like she was going to crush Wakka in two the other night.'_ Rikku mused to herself, placing her chin on the top of her knees.

"Wow…That must have been hard to take in." Rikku found herself mumbling like a pathetic little girl who had just been told off for doing something that she hadn't actually done. "Is that why you don't like Al Bheds?"

"One of many reasons…" Wakka spat, cracking his knuckles with a glare that Rikku was sure could burn a hole right through anything. "Damn Al Bheds. Forcing them to use machina, who in their right mind would use machina!"

Not knowing what else to say, Rikku shrugged her shoulders and proceeded to crawl her way beside the redhead, even more curious than she had been before about Chappu.

"I just don't get it…Why would he say he was gonna propose to Lulu but then suddenly leave and join the Crusaders? I just don't get it…" Wakka whispered the last part of his sentence, placing his forehead onto one of his knees, sighing wistfully as the cold wind tickled his face. "Just don't make sense…"

Rikku felt an ominous shiver pass through her body at Wakka's words. All she could think of (all her mind let her think of) was Lulu and how much she was probably still hurting inside though the summoner tried to hide her pain behind a cold façade to try to prevent anyone from getting close.

Yup. That was Rikku. Captain, Al Bhed, friend, annoyance…Dr Phil.

Nah, Lulu was just a little too obvious to Rikku's wandering eyes (not that she let her eyes wander anywhere inappropriate or anything like that.)

"Hey…Wakka?" Rikku nudged the mourning Besaid Auroch with one of her knees, giving him a cheery half-smile when he finally glanced up at her. "Y'know…Maybe Chappu joined the Crusaders so he could protect Lulu. I mean…"

Rikku found herself gazing up at the velvet night sky, sprinkled with silver stars that held so many meanings which Rikku did not even begin to understand though all she knew was that these stars held significance to someone. That was good enough for her.

Then words were spilling out her mouth. Words that were and were not her own. Words that made her tongue feel like someone had tied barbed wire around it to try and keep it still.

"Being with your girl is good right? But protecting her from Sin is a lot better. Y'know what I mean?" Rikku gulped, feeling an odd prickling feeling start to slide down her throat in a way that logically signalled it was numb. Strange. Rikku had meant to say those words but when she had said it…It felt bizarre.

She'd have to ignore it for now. Far more important things to worry about right now. A numb throat was the last thing that should be on her mind.

"Aye. Guess ya right." Wakka nodded stiffly, giving Rikku an even stiffer smile when he recognized the pity in the blonde girl's eyes. He could understand why they held pity, except it still didn't make the pain feel any less…Well. Painful.

"I'm sorry though…I should have known it was something bad. No wonder you and Lulu were arguing right?" Rikku nudged Wakka again, playfully punching (lightly) the side of Wakka's cheek with a smirk. "I shouldn't have come if it was going to make travelling painful for you and Lulu…Just leave me here and I'll make my own way to the Moonflow."

"Hey now!" Wakka laughed heartily and before she knew it, Rikku was locked into one of Wakka's famous 'noogies' with his knuckles rubbing fiercely against her head. "We aren't gonna abandon ya here! Your one of us now! And hey, Lu could need someone to cheer her up! Always grumpy ya?"

"Oooh she's gonna kill you!" Rikku moaned, trying her damn hardest to get out of the redhead's strong grip that almost rivalled Auron's own. "And I'm gonna kill you too if you don't let me out of this!"

"Bah fine. You're no fun Rikku." Wakka laughed, releasing the blonde blitzer from his arm lock to just ruffle her hair; messing up her beaded hair in so many ways that Rikku scowled at him in return.

"Thanks a lot Wakka, this is gonna take AGES to put right. Sheesh." Rikku said, sticking out her tongue before trying to place her hair back the way it was before until Wakka had practically destroyed it.

"Eh? You seen this for a hair-do?" Wakka chuckled, pointing up to his ginormous cowlick that reminded Rikku of one of those little rhinoceros dolls she used to keep underneath her pillow to help her sleep. "Takes forever to do ya?"

"I bet Kimahri spits on it. There's no way that you use gel to stick that thing up."

"How'd you figure that one out then?" Wakka asked, his mind still wandering onto his brother Chappu and of course, the future.

"Kimahri has super spit. Obviously." Rikku said, tapping her nose with a smile that just proved what she had just said was the most understandable thing in the whole world of Spira.

**

* * *

**

After Wakka had practically tried to explain to her what gel he used (Rikku giving up in the whole conversation seeming as in truth, she didn't really care what Wakka used) Rikku had dragged herself back upstairs to join Lulu in the room that they were sharing.

Finding the door unlocked, Rikku rushed inside and immediately felt like she wanted to have a cold shower.

"Whooaaa!" Rikku covered both of her eyes, turning her back away from the scene in front of her. "You should really lock the door y'know? Geez…"

"I thought you were mature enough to handle another woman's body Rikku, tsk. Now I know I will change in a different room from you, just in case you cannot handle it of course." Lulu's reply was full of amusement though at the same time it made Rikku feel like she had been slapped across the face; leaving a stinging feeling that would not go away.

However at the wording of the summoner, Rikku felt like she had just turned into mush.

'_Handle another woman's body? GEEZ! Rikku get your mind out the gutter! Ewww! I can't believe that thought even passed through my head. Must eat soon. Must eat soon. The lack of food is making my head feel like a pervert.'_ Rikku grabbed her head from both sides, trying to block her thoughts away like she had done when she was a child.

"Is it okay to look yet?" Rikku called over her shoulder, hands still clamped over ears and her eyes still tightly shut.

"I am in a towel if that is what you define as 'okay' to look." Lulu responded cryptically and when Rikku turned, she was glad to see that Lulu was indeed in a towel with her back facing her.

Placing a hand over her heart to try and steady its beating, Rikku repressed a sigh of release. If Lulu had seen her red cheeks then she would have most likely teased her mercilessly at how immature she was being.

"Okay…Okay, yeah. Okay." Rikku began to walk over towards the summoner, wishing silently she had enough eternal strength to sit beside Lulu and not stutter like a lovesick, giggly girl.

"Wait." Lulu (who seemed to sense that Rikku was walking over towards her) held out a hand to stop the Al Bhed in her tracks. "I normally would not ask but could you help me with my hair? Besides, with this time you and I will have enough time to talk to each other once again."

Short of breath (though Rikku herself didn't know exactly why) the blonde crawled on all fours over the big sprawl of blankets to sit cross-legged behind the summoner, slightly dazed at how only looking at Lulu seemed to make her want to faint like an idiot.

'_I hate hormones. They suck. Really badly._' Rikku grumbled to herself, scratching her nose intently in a way that looked like she was studying every curve of Lulu's face with a serious look of concentration.

"Okay so what sorta beads do you want? Ya old ones or mine that I use for my hair?" Rikku studied the different beads and clips on the drawer next to Lulu's outstretched legs; her face scrunching up at how difficult they all looked compared to her own. No way would she be able to handle THEM.

"Any. It does not matter. Though, no yellow." Lulu turned her head slightly to look at her over her shoulder. "And thank you."

"What for?" Rikku asked, reaching over to pull out many beads from her beaded pouch; examining them in her hands to divert herself from looking into Lulu's captivating hues.

"For not leaving. I know it must have hurt you to listen to Wakka talk about the Al Bhed's like that." Lulu looked at Rikku warily, cerise orbs studying how the Al Bhed's muscles seemed to have tensed up at the mere mention of the conversation she and Wakka had been having.

And to explain how she knew, Lulu let her lips curve slightly. "You shouldn't talk right outside my window."

If she could have without looking remotely suspicious or suicidal, Rikku would have swallowed her whole pouch of beads and let herself choke on them. Rather that than be in this hopeless situation right here.

"Uhm…Heh, heh, heh…." Rikku giggled timidly, rubbing the back of her blonde tresses with a sheepish looking - completely forgetting about the beads that were spilled into her lap.

Then.

"Are you mad?" Rikku felt her uncomfortable-looking smile quickly turn into a full-blown puppy dog expression, her hands wrung together at the thought of the summoner being angry at her for finding out more than she had intended to let Rikku find out.

"No. I find no reason to be mad at you or Wakka. You had a right to know." And to the Al Bhed girl's relief; Lulu actually did sound calm and sincere in what she had said. Not angry at all. "I'm just sorry I wasn't the one to tell you."

"It was none of my business I guess…" Rikku spoke softly, beginning to pick out her rather exquisite blue and purple beads to try to distract herself. Better to distract herself than actually listen, she'd say something stupid and then…Terrible things would happen.

"If we are to be travelling together then I'm sure it's natural to want to know things about your companions." Lulu answered even more calmly than before and THAT was when Rikku started to get a little bit sceptical.

"Oookayyy…" Once she had found the beads she wanted, Rikku slowly began to realize that her legs would have to be around Lulu's to get close enough to the summoner's dark, sleek hair and that would also mean _touching_. "Uhm…But to be honest I expected you to be like 'GET OUTTA MY BIZZ!' and that. Y'know what I mean right?"

"Let's not talk about this anymore. I don't wish to discuss anymore about it. What was done was done." Lulu then fell silent. And then. "My hair?"

"Oh! Yeah!" Rikku also dropped the subject - though to be honest she had wanted to do so ever since Chappu came up - and started to part Lulu's fine hair into six different strands; each of them the same in width while height only differed a little. "Uhm."

"A question, though."

"Anything." To Rikku's surprise, when she actually let that word slip out her lips, when she had let Lulu hear those words…She had actually meant it.

If Lulu had noticed her look of shock, she didn't mention it and continued with what she was going to say.

"When you spoke to Wakka about Chappu. Those words that you said…" Lulu cleared her throat, breaking the tension that was already building up before continuing once again. "About how it is better to protect your girl from Sin rather than being with her-"

Rikku winced. Man, how bad that must have sounded to Lulu hearing her say that? The Al Bhed girl slapped her forehead angrily at herself. What an idiot! She sure wasn't called Blondie for nothing!

"Where did you hear that before?"

Instinctively, Rikku tilted her head to the side; curiosity masking her suspicion at such a question coming from the summoner who knew that she had no idea about anything that included Chappu…Or this whole world.

"Uh…I dunno. Nowhere? I just thought that it was the right thing to say." Half lie, half truth. When she had said those things to Wakka…Well, Rikku had felt…Strange. Different. Abnormal in a way.

A shiver ran through the blonde at the memory of how her body had reacted without delay at (what she had hoped to be) her kind words; making the summoner tense up slightly at the subtle movement of the Al Bhed's legs against her back.

"Thank you. Again." Lulu nodded her head once and then turned so that she was looking over her shoulder at the Al Bhed; amusement deep in her cerise hues that sparkled with mirth.

Pouting (Rikku pretty much guessed that the summoner was laughing at her for some bizarre reason, probably her hair thanks to that oaf Wakka) Rikku gave the black mage a mock offended look.

"Yesss? What is soooo funny? Huh?" Rikku growled out with a quirky smirk, shrugging her shoulders to try and make herself look bigger and threatening like the men did back in Zanarkand when they were about to start a brawl in the taverns.

"I didn't expect you to be a romantic Rikku…It's just very surprising." Lulu said with a small smile; said smile not reaching her eyes which normally crinkled whenever Lulu _truly_ smiled at her.

Though was even that the summoner's real smile? How was she to know if it was or not? Rikku doubted she knew anything about Lulu apart from some of her past but yes, that may have made Lulu into the person she was today yet that didn't mean that Lulu showed her true side often.

Bah. Rikku rubbed her forehead in an attempt to get rid of her preposterous thoughts. Too many thoughts.

"Uh…" Realizing that she had been talked to, Rikku desperately tried to think up of something witty to say that was so witty that even Lulu's dry, sarcastic wit could not outwit it.

Word.

"Well. Uhm. Don't you think green would look GREAT with your hair? I know. Awesome right?" Rikku squealed, rolling her eyes slightly at not so-subtle change of subject; searching through her beads to pick out a light green bead that she would braid into Lulu's hair.

A hand sneaked out to grab her wrist (which the blonde thought was impossible seeming as she was behind the summoner, but hey, strange things happen) instantly stopping her in her search.

"Don't worry. I won't tell the others." Again there was that amusement in the summoner's tone of voice, apart from Rikku could not get her brain to actually grip onto it without feeling like someone had placed snakes in her stomach.

The Al Bhed rolled her shoulders up and down, shaking her head slightly to try and regain some sense of reality. Man, she felt like she had downed a Zanarkand drink called Seymour Spitfire (an alcoholic drink that could knock anyone off their feet in a few seconds) with a dashing of vodka; her head just felt like somebody had kicked it in.

"Uh…" Rikku groaned softly, forcing herself to open her eyes to stare intensely at the back of Lulu's head; using Lulu as an object that she could use to keep herself as sane as possible while hoping she didn't look like a lunatic after it. "Thanks. I…By all of _Yevon_, I feel like I've been drugged or sumthin'…"

She felt Lulu stiffen uncomfortably against her front and then mutter something that sounded like she was cursing herself.

"Whaa?" Rikku spoke, her voice all slurred; slumping forward so that her right cheek rested casually on Lulu's back.

"Lie down." Lulu commanded coldly, turning around (hands still fastened around her towel) with such force that it knocked Rikku back onto her back anyhow - causing a low hiss at the pain that still lingered due to her wounds.

And then another pain. A pain that struck straight inside her temple, causing Rikku to gasp and to make a grab for her forehead; trying her best to soothe it by just using touch.

Unexpectedly, Rikku then felt something cold caress along her bare body (save for her yellow bra) with such a gentle touch that Rikku could barely feel it until the touch pressed down hard near her ribs.

She screamed at the callous contact; fingers reaching upwards to grapple with Lulu's, luscious dark hair.

"Strange." She heard Lulu murmur timidly, confusion clearly laced in the summoner's voice. "Nothing is wrong with you…" Hands again, though this time they stroked Rikku's face.

"B-bath!" Rikku wheezed, her fingers still trapped in the summoner's dark locks that seemed to snake around her fingertips like coils. Baths normally helped people in pain, right? Right. So that meant that only a bath could cure her of this…Unbearable sting of pain that seemed to be creeping all over her body; almost like the pain itself was water and it was running all over her.

Then a laugh. Gentle and soft. Rikku decided that at that moment, she absolutely loved it when Lulu laughed.

"Oh I see the problem. Well…" Rikku felt cold hands again, except that this time they looped around her lower back, cradling her against a rough material that could only be Lulu's towel; the touch feeling so comforting that if she could lie in them a little longer, then Rikku was sure that she could fall asleep…If she really tried…

* * *

Rikku screamed and bolted up right, sweat covering her forehead and her arms trembling along with her shaking legs.

"W-what the hell?" Rikku glanced down and found that she was in bed with the duvet covering her legs but apart from that, she was completely bare (save for her bandages that looked like they had been changed) to freeze in the cold night air.

Scrambling out of bed, Rikku found out quickly that not only did it hurt to fall on her left side but it also caused the Al Bhed girl to fall flat on her face with a rather loud _thud._

"How thfre muddafishin' hell did thart nut wake Luuluu up?" Rikku mumbled angrily against the carpet, her words muffled so much that once the words had left her mouth, Rikku found herself not being able to understand.

With a groan, Rikku rolled onto her right side with a grunt to glare up at the wooden ceiling above her in distaste.

She had no idea how she had gotten into bed with…Hey, wait a second.

The Al Bhed forced herself upwards to peer over her side of the bed, eyes adjusting in the dark to rest on Lulu's sleeping form; jade eyes letting themselves run over and caress every angle of Lulu's face - knowing that this would most likely be her only chance of looking at Lulu without feeling like an idiot.

The summoner's eyes snapped open; the usual fiery red was a lot harder to see in the darkness yet it still brought the same heat to Rikku's cheeks.

"I'm not sure if you've learnt this lesson child, but it isn't polite to stare."

Not expecting the summoner to speak whatsoever, Rikku gasped and brought a hand to her heart, feeling how fast it was beating thanks to Lulu's sudden outburst of speech.

"My. Giddy. God. Pyjamas!" The Al Bhed sighed, flopping back onto the carpet with an even louder thud than before; arms over her face to smother her tiny winces at falling on her left side.

Though this did not make Rikku even hesitate in her talent of speech and the Al Bhed continued to rant. "Y'know you really need to stop DOING that, seriously! You are going to be the DEATH of me. Ughh!"

"Hardly. In fact, I was the one who saved you tonight from that infected wound you had just above your left rib. Which is broken. Amazing how you didn't feel that sort of thing."

Oh. So that was why her rib was stinging like she had just rolled all over on her stomach with hot coals underneath her body.

"One rib broken and an infected wound? Sounds craptastic if you ask me." Rikku moaned, leaning up on her elbows in an attempt to try and crawl her way back up onto the bed that she was sharing with the summoner.

"I'm sure. You fell asleep however so you were a lot easier to fix up." Lulu's voice penetrated the darkness again though this time the effect wasn't as massive as it had been before and the Al Bhed found herself calming down at the sound of it. "I'm sure the screams of a young girl would have brought everyone running."

Rikku nodded hesitantly, deciding that she wouldn't strain anymore of her limbs than necessary and proceeded to once more try to claw her way up onto the bed.

She felt clammy hands grasp at her elbows and swallowed a large gasp of absolute agony when these hands hauled her up onto the mattress with so much force that Rikku found her head pressed against one of the summoner's legs.

"You'll be fine in by the end of tomorrow however." Lulu explained in the sort of way Rikku's medical coach would; calm, suave and strictly professional. "These salves that I found will make the healing quicker, so try not to hurt yourself when we make our way to the Kilika temple tomorrow morning."

Not only did Rikku find Lulu's sort of concern (if you could call telling her not to get herself hurt in a leadership sort of way concern) touching, but it also brought a giddy giggle away from her lips.

"Yesssireeee. Don't worry bout me. I just got a broken rib and an infection but I'll make sure not to fall behind, yeah?" It hurt, though Rikku managed to wheeze the sentence out with a wry smirk, face twisting up in pain.

Rikku heard Lulu give a sigh and mutter a few words that immediately seemed to make her body feel as if she had the most massive cramp ever in every possible part of her body.

"Yeeoowwhhh! What the hell are you doing to me?" Rikku squealed, pressing her face hard into the covers in hope that this would be enough to distract her from screaming in agony and waking everyone up.

"Numbing your body. It'll help you sleep. And myself to sleep." Lulu replied simply with a little dry 'tch' that made the Al Bhed scowl up at her in aggravation before softening into something that was most likely guilt.

"Oh yeah…" Rikku hit herself on the forehead with the bottom of her right hand, resulting in another dull ache that made her groan viciously at the pain that jolted right through her forehead. "I'm so sorry Lulu…"

"It's fine. Just go to sleep." Lulu gave her a meaningful look; one that meant if Rikku didn't listen to her and go to sleep she would most likely take that numbing spell off her and dunk her in the same room as Wakka.

"Oh you're a mean lady…" Rikku whimpered, digging her head into her pillow to try and get herself to sleep. Not that covering your mouth and nostrils was a good start but hey, who cared?

Nope. This position wasn't going to help her get on Lulu's good side before morning. Nope, nopitty, nope!

With a sigh, the Al Bhed moved on the right side away from the stinging pain that was her rib.

Nope. She didn't like lying on her right side. She always lay on her left side. Right sides were rubbish.

Fine, the back it would have to be.

Rikku flopped on her back, staring up at the dark ceiling that was painted with silvery, glittery stars that shone her reflection right back at her; letting the Al Bhed see how moody she looked.

She crossed her arms across her chest, feeling the emptiness that swallowed her whole chest area up where it should be full with her favourite teddy bear known as Mr Hubba.

It was called Mr Hubba because her old boyfriend had been called Hubba and he had brought it for her at a carnival in Zanarkand so therefore why her teddy bear was called Mr Hubba.

Again, Rikku sighed in a very melodramatic way - hoping silently that this would be enough to draw Lulu's attention.

Another sigh answered her own. "Rikku…What will help you get to sleep?"

The Al Bhed turned red at the idea that had popped in her had the exact same time as Lulu asked her that question. Oh no! She couldn't tell Lulu about Mr Hubba! The summoner would laugh herself silly at it and most likely spread it around the group so now whenever Wakka saw her he'd smile and say 'hubba, hubba' and -

"I miss my teddy bear." Rikku drove her own thoughts away to one side to answer the summoner with a tiny squeak; still mortally embarrassed at how stupid she sounded. "My arms feel empty…"

Out of the corner of her eye (not that Rikku was looking anywhere specifically at Lulu) Rikku saw the black mage reach out for something at the side of the bed they shared.

"Here. Cuddle with this." Lulu then threw the object over her head before slumping back down into her pillows with an uneasy exhale of breath.

The Al Bhed caught it mid air and snuggled it close to her chest, glancing down at it in curiosity.

She was just about to open her mouth to ask Lulu what on earth it was when Lulu already answered her question within a matter of seconds.

"It's a moogle Rikku."

Like _that_ made any sense to her.

"Okay." Rikku nodded sullenly, snuggling her face into the moogle with a small smile at the cotton that brushed against her cheeks with its warmth.

Hopefully she would be able to go to sleep tonight without Lulu waking her up again.

* * *

_I checked grammar with an online grammar checker so excuse me if there are SOME mistakes but don't blame me. Blame the grammar checker. :D Enjoy. More Lulu/Rikku next chapter! Sorry for such a slow progress but that is what I am like when I'm a writer. :P Sue me!_


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